Was it us?? Or was it the mushroom?

I could use some opinions here...  The wild & brown rice pilaf pictured in a photo several days ago had a variation recipe that called for reconstituted dried mushrooms and so I examined the options at the neighborhood supermarket.  The choices didn't match the recipe so I ended up guessing and picked dried oyster mushrooms.  While they were soaking I thought they smelled unpleasant so skipped the recipe variation.  But, to use them up, we cooked them and tried them "straight" (a bit of garlic and parsley).  I thought they were chewy and didn't taste appealing.  Was it how we used them?  We're thinking of avoiding dried mushrooms from now on.  Is that rash?

Comments

[celeste]

dried reconstituted mushrooms are much better in recipes. They're a flavor boost, but the texture can be ... unpleasant. sliced and placed in risotto or in a sushi roll with other vegetables, they're quite good, and the mushroom flavor is very deep. but they can never match fresh mushroom smoothness.

[abundant]

Thanks so much for your comment! This is helpful. Since I didn't like the smell of mushrooms as they were soaking I skipped putting them in the recipe as suggested. Your insights reassure me!

[bea]

I've had bad experiences with reconstituted mushrooms myself. They scare me now, and I think I would need to cook side by side with the world's greatest mushroom expert in order to ever attempt trying them again.

[bea]

You have the BEST veggie website, your food looks so delicious. So I implore you, please post a different photo soon! These reconstituted mushrooms are not delicious.

[abundant]

It was up on the front page a bit too long for me too! :)