Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy

I designed this gravy to be used with Poutine à l'Ontarienne, but I suspect it will come in handy in a number of dishes. It should be very useful for vegetarians, but it's a rich tasting sauce that can be made very quickly by anyone. It can also be made in advance and reheated easily. However, if adding the fresh mushrooms, don't add them until you are ready to use the gravy.

Makes about
30 minutes - 10 minutes prep time

3 or 4 medium dried shiitakes
3 or 4 medium sundried tomatoes (not oil packed)
1/2 a small onion
2 cups water
2 teaspoons chick pea or other flour
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons nutritional (good tasting) yeast
3 tablespoon light miso

1/2 to 1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 tablespoon butter (optional)

Put the shiitakes, tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped onion, water, chick pea flour and mustard in a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer very gently until the vegetables are tender. Turn off the heat, remove the shiitake to a cutting board and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Cut the stems off of the shiitakes and discard the stems. Return the caps to the gravy. Add the nutritional yeast and the miso.

Purée the gravy until very smooth. At this point, it can be used as-is (reheat before serving) or it can be improved with fresh mushrooms. Clean and slice the mushrooms, and sauté them in the butter until lightly browned on each side. Add the gravy to the pan and heat through.