All Dried Up

Don't use dried ingredients. That's a rule. No, a commandment. It's been written, in stone, by the cooking gods and woe be unto thee if you choose to ignore, for you invite the wrath of angry, wrathful, vengeful, profane deities upon your head. And you'll have to eat bland food.

Dried herbs, languishing in your cupboard for decades, have all the flavor of year-old lawn clippings. Powdered cheese sauce shouldn't exist in a just world. Dried french onion soup? What the fuck is that?

Look, I'm not suggesting you mill fresh flour every time you want to bake a cake, but perhaps dessicated mint in place of the cool, menthol-scented, fresh stuff is not such a good idea. Sure, just-add-water lifestyles are pretty space-aged. However, I'd rather my anti-gravity rocket scooter to be all advanced and stuff, leave my dinner alone.

So, to recap, dried food bad, fresh food good. No exceptions. None.

Well, maybe a couple exceptions. Some foods actually improve in flavor or texture upon being dried. Both oregano and bay leaves have a more rounded flavor after drying; when fresh they can be overpowering. Perhaps the best examples of a food's flavor benefiting from drying are mushrooms.

While drying most foods can adversely affect their flavor, mushrooms develop a rich, deeply earthy, truly mushroomy smack. Upon re-hydrating they release the most amazing woody aromas. It is not only acceptable, but often preferable to use these mushrooms in place of fresh ones.

In particular I am thinking of porcini. Native to Europe, naturalized in parts of North America, these broad-capped, squat, thick-stemmed mushrooms look not unlike the ones in which the now extinct species Smurfus Nobilis once dwelt. Fresh, they (the mushrooms, that is) are firm and spongy and have a slightly bread-like aroma. Once dried, usually in slices, they magically smell of smoked meats. It only takes about 20 minuets to rehydrate porcini, but I usually let them sit much longer, as it fills the kitchen with delicious bacon aromas.

Not surprisingly, procini go well with bacon. Throw in a rich risotto, some sharp parmesan, and a soft-poached egg and lookout, baby, I'm coming over for dinner.



Procini and Speck Risotto with a Poached Hen's Egg

When buying dried mushrooms of any kind looks for ones that are in large pieces without holes (evidence of pests).

Speck is a heavily smoked, aged bacon. You can usually by it from smallgoods suppliers in chunks by weight.

Allow a half cup of raw rice per person.

1 cup arborio rice
40 g dried porcini
100 g speck, diced into 1 cm cubes
1 small onion, fine brunios
1 clove garlic, cracked
1 sprig thyme
½ c white wine
50 g parmesean, shaved
2 eggs, room temperature

Place the mushrooms in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to sit at least 20 minuets. Drain the porcini, squeezing out any excess moisture. Reserve the mushrooms and the water.

Heat a heavy-bottom sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and gently cook the speck. The aim here is to render out some of the smoky, cured fat, as this will flavor the rest of the dish. Take care not to color or crisp the speck too much. When a significant amount of fat has melted out, increase the heat to medium and add the onion. Cook this gently until the onion is soft and translucent, but not colored. Add the garlic and the sprig of thyme.

In the meantime, heat the mushroom water in a small pot on medium heat until it is nearly boiling. Reduce the heat and hold the temperature just under a simmer. Chop the re-hydrated porcini and set them aside.

Add the rice to the onions. It will turn clear as it absorbs the oil in the pan. Cook it on medium heat, stirring frequently, until the grains begin to turn opaque again. Add the wine and simmer until it is all absorbed.

Now, add a ladle-full of the hot mushroom water to the rice. Stirring constantly, cook until all the liquid is absorbed. Repeat this process several times until all the mushroom water has been absorbed. By this time your rice should nearly be done, soft, no crunch, but with a firm bite. You may (as I did) have to add a couple ladles of hot water or chicken stock if the reserved mushroom water isn't enough to cook the rice completely.

When you judge that the rice needs only one more addition of stock to be finished, Poach the eggs. Place a small saucepan with five to ten centimeters of salted water in it on high heat. When it boils, reduce the heat to the barest of simmers, swirl the water with a spoon forming a lazy vortex in the middle of the pot. Very gently, from as close to the surface of the water as possible, crack one of the eggs into the middle of your whirlpool. Allow it to just simmer for 3 minuets, then remove it with a slotted spoon and drain it on paper towel. Repeat with the other egg.

While the eggs are cooking, finish the risotto. Add the last of the water or stock and toss in the mushrooms. Fish out the thyme and garlic and discard. When the rice has absorbed the liquid, Stir in about half of the cheese. Check for seasoning. Serve with the poached egg resting on top and parmesean shavings sprinkled around.