Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl, cover with boiling water (at least a half cup) then leave them to sit for about a half hour while you prep the remaining ingredients.  When they’ve softened, gently squeeze them of water – save the mushroom water! – then finely chop the mushrooms and set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat and add in the onion, garlic, salt and pepper.  Cook and stir for a few minutes until softened, then add in the chopped mushrooms and cook and stir for several minutes until the mix is good and dry.  Stir in the reserved mushroom liquid, bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low and slowly simmer and cook down until all is dry again.  The slower you’re able to do this, the more mushroom flavor you’ll get!

Once all of the liquid has evaporated/absorbed, remove the skillet from the heat and allow this mix to cool to room temperature.  If you’ve doubled the recipe, your electric mixer would come in handy at this point, but a single version (as above) will combine nicely by hand.  Scrape all of the cooled mushroom mix and the 2 cream cheeses into a medium bowl and use a sturdy spatula to stir/squish/work together well.  Line an appropriate sized bowl with plastic wrap, use the spatula to press the spread evenly into the bowl, smooth out the top (which will become the bottom) and then cover the bowl of mushroom spread tightly before refrigerating for a few hours, or ideally overnight before serving.

When you’re ready to serve, lift out the spread by the plastic wrap and place it on a serving platter surrounded by baguette slices.  Garnish as you wish and remember that if you double this recipe, you get 2 glorious bowls of goodness, one of which you can try as a steak topper or in a hot baked potato!