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Question For The Chefs..

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Rascal
Rascal Posts: 3,923
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Early on Sunday morning I will start a pot roast in the slow cooker (indoor, counter-top variety) for a gathering later in the day. Thing is, I have some dried, wild, Porcini mushrooms (1 oz.) which I'd like to add to the pot. I'm wondering if I need to reconstitute them before hand or will they be OK on their own in the cooking liquid for 8-10 hours. I've never used them before and wonder if some prep (cleaning, rinsing, etc.) is necessary. Thanks for any help.~~~ 8 - )
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  • bitslammer
    bitslammer Posts: 818
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    If they are good quality you're going to get a LOT of flavor from them by doing them in the dish. We usually do ours in water and then add that water back in to bring the flavor up to the point we want.

    With a roast you may want full power, but in something like a risotto they can easily overpower the dish. I guess it goes with the old adage that you easily add more but you can't really take it back if you go too far.
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  • Eggsakley
    Eggsakley Posts: 1,019
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    a Porcinni being an immature Portabella should not provide too much flavor when re-hydrated in the cooking liquid with your roast. I would definately toss the rascals in and enjoy. Dont forget that mushrooms are approx. 90% water and an ounce of dried is equal to approx. 10 ounces of fresh. Seems like a good amount for a roast to me. Best of luck and enjoy. They will be wonderful.
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  • Eggsakley
    Eggsakley Posts: 1,019
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    Sorry. but I misspoke when I refered to the portabella. I was thinking of the crimini and portabella connection.Porcini will actually be a better fit for this dish. My daughter has had a crop reproducing in her yard in Kansas this year and has sold many to the local food establishments.
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  • Charleston Dave
    Charleston Dave Posts: 571
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    I'm not a chef but I use dried mushrooms frequently in my pot roasts. They're an excellent ingredient to add meaty flavor (umami) to the gravy. I'll take the remains of the mirepoix and grind them up in the blender with some of the mushrooms to make a particularly thick and flavorful gravy.

    Just toss them in at the beginning. The moisture in the slow cooker will reconstitute them. I'd make sure they are below the liquid level in the cooker (e.g., not sprinkled on top above the liquid level).

    If you are fussy about cleaning things, another alternative I sometimes use for expensive dried mushrooms (e.g., morels) is to bring some water to a near-boil, then let the mushrooms soak for 5-10 minutes in that hot water off the heat. This will give you reconstituted mushrooms plus a mushroom bouillon. Fish out the mushrooms for your dish, and pour the broth through a coffee filter. Pouring the whole mess through a strainer doesn't work because you're just leaving the dirt on the mushrooms; remove the mushrooms before doing the filtering step.

    This technique will strain out any dirt, sand, etc. and with the filtered liquid you'll have another mushroomy flavor component to incorporate in your recipe.
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