I love using dried mushrooms. I get several varieties in the International District for a fraction of what I would pay in a grocery store. Here is an extremely easy and very delicious rice dish using reconstituted porcini mushrooms plus the mushroom liquid. The result is a very clean, subtle but unmistakably mushroom flavor. Just delicious.
1 C dry basmati rice
1 C boiling water
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1-2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Reconstitute the dried mushrooms in one cup of boiling water. Leave them to soak for about 15 minutes.
Drain and reserve the mushroom water. Gently squeeze out any remaining liquid from the mushrooms too. Add the mushroom liquid to enough water to get a total of 1 1/2 cups of cooking liquid. Cook the rice using your preferred rice cooking method.
While the rice cooks, dice up the reconstituted mushrooms and the parsley. Once the rice is cooked, fluff and combine with the diced mushrooms and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Really tasty.
How many years have I been buying mushrooms? Too many. But I've never come across conjoined mushrooms. Perhaps these are common but not to me. I hated to break up these sweethearts but I was hungry and I love mushrooms.
How fancy does this sound? But it is so easy to create. If you can saute mushrooms for any other dish, you can make this pate. And it's so smooth and mushroomy (a new word). Spreads, dips, veggie pate are all favorites of mine. They are versatile, quick, easy.
I read several pate recipes online before I decided on these final ingredients and my own method of preparation. As usual, I wanted to use what I already had in the house.
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 pound white button mushrooms, coarsely chopped ( I will not get into the debate about rinsing mushrooms in water vs. wiping with a damp towel. My preference has always produced the desired results. If your method does too, use it. If it doesn't, try something else.)
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tsp fresh thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
First, reconstitute your dried mushrooms in one cup of boiling water. Let them soak while you prepare the rest of the dish. In the olive oil, over medium-high heat, saute the onion and garlic for a couple of minutes to soften. Then add all of the fresh mushrooms, toss to coat, and continue to cook until the mushrooms really soften, start to wilt. Add the reconstituted porcini mushroom (reserve the liquid) and incorporate into the pan. I continued to cook until I could see the mushrooms had taken on a darker color. Then add salt, pepper, and thyme and the wine plus half of the porcini liquid. Continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated. I immediately blended this in the food processor and re-seasoned with salt and pepper. I let it cool almost completely before I packed it into the ramican and chilled it. I didn't want steam (water) forming and making things wet. Chill for at least 3 hours.
I was worried about getting the pate from ramican to plate so I lined the dish with two strips of wax paper.
I thought I would just lift out the pate using the wax paper as a sort of sling. The paper broke from the weight and moisture of the pate but no matter. The pate easily slid right out once I inverted the ramimcan onto the serving plate.
This is a great recipe to bring to a party and impress your friends (or your enemies, even better?). Bring this on a picnic (keep it chilled until it's time to eat). Eat it warm as a dip or spread or chill it and serve as a pate. Frankly, it was hard to resist just grabbing a spoon and eating from the food processor. Well, I did a little. Eat this on toasted pita, baguette, crackers, etc.
Any other veggie pate ideas out there?
I'm excited to be submitting this to Chef Erik's Veg Head Carnival. My first time participating.
I love using dried mushrooms. I get several varieties in the International District for a fraction of what I would pay in a grocery store. Here is an extremely easy and very delicious rice dish using reconstituted porcini mushrooms plus the mushroom liquid. The result is a very clean, subtle but unmistakably mushroom flavor. Just delicious.
