• Peel the onion, cut it in half and thinly slice.
• Pour the boiling water over the dry mushrooms and set them aside for 5 minutes to rehydrate.
• Peel the potatoes and julienne.
• Drain the mushrooms through a fine mesh sieve lined with a coffee filter or a cheesecloth. Save the mushroom broth. Rinse the mushrooms, making sure they are completely clean and don't have any grit left on them.
• Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add the sliced onion, season with salt and cook for about 3 minutes.
• Add the dry mushrooms and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the mushrooms have softened and are slightly golden.
• Add the minced garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. The garlic is totally optional. At this point, pour in the mushroom broth and add the potatoes to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper, cover with a lid and cook for 8-10 minutes, until all the water is absorbed and the potatoes are softened and can be pierced with a fork.
• Uncover the skillet, increase the heat to medium high and cook the potatoes for another 5 minutes, just until it becomes golden on all sides. You may want to add a Tablespoon or 2 of oil or butter to the skillet, so it becomes more golden.
• Garnish with the fresh herbs.

For crisper potatoes there's a slightly different method. This is how I normally made pan-fried potatoes without the mushrooms.

• Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a nonstick skillet.
• Add the onions, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 3 minutes, until they have softened.
• Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook on medium high heat for about 5-7 minutes, until they are slightly golden.
• Pour in the mushroom broth that you reserved earlier. Cover the skillet and cook for about 10-15 minutes, on medium low heat, until the mushrooms are softened and all the mushrooms broth is absorbed. Set the caramelized onion and mushrooms aside.
• Wipe out the skillet, pour in about 3 Tablespoons of oil, increase the heat to medium high.
• Add the potatoes and cook the potatoes until golden on all sides. Do NOT season the potatoes with salt and pepper yet, since the salt will draw out the moisture out of the potatoes and make them soft. Since the heat is relatively high, the potatoes cook quickly, so keep checking them, but don't turn them until they are golden brown. Keep turning them, using a thin spatula, until all the potatoes are golden brown.
• At this point, season the potatoes with salt and pepper, add the onions and mushrooms and garnish with the fresh herbs.