Porcini-Wild Rice Soup

I have been wanting to make this soup since I bought Veganomicon. Of course with the boy's aversion to mushrooms, it's not exactly something I could slip into the weekly rotation. I was going to make it when I was visiting my parents once (my mushroom sanctuary) but dried porcinis and wild rice blends were both absurdly expensive. I got my chance though when I made plans with my friend to come over for dinner one night, and it was absolutely delicious!! I ended up using a dried wild mushroom mix in lieu of the dry porcinis because that's what I had, and I never grated the carrot in in the end as per recipe instructions (we were so excited to eat it we forgot), and I used a leek instead of an onion because of my onion thing.... and I added about 2 cups extra broth because the rice kept sucking it up. But hey, other than that, totally followed the recipe ;) I think next time I go to visit my parents I WILL make this, but I'll "import" the mushrooms and rice from home.

Wild Mushroom-Wild Rice Soup

1/2 ounce dried wild mushrooms
2 cups boiling water
1 leek, tough green part removed, well de-gritted, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tsp salt
pepper, to taste
8 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups wild rice blend
6 cups vegetable stock

1. Pour the boiling water over the dried mushrooms in a bowl, cover, and let sit until you finish doing all this other stuff...

2. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the leeks, and saute for a few minutes until they start getting soft. Add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown.

3. Add the mushrooms and saute for a few minutes until they start to shrink down.

4. Carefully remove the dried mushrooms from the liquid (hot, remember?) and slice them. Add them, and the liquid, to the pot.

5. Add the rice and the broth and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 45 minutes or until the rice is tender.