First Encounter – Shiitake & Maitake Mushrooms

For dinner we are having quesadillas with caramelized onions and spinach; I decided mushrooms would be good with this and most of the family at this point is ok with mushrooms if I don’t overdo it. As, you may remember I purchased Shiitake & Maitake Mushrooms in my herb order not too long ago, so off to the kitchen to reconstitute the mushrooms. I’m not sure how much they will grow so I put 3 Maitake and 5 Shiitake mushrooms in the bowl and pour enough hot water to cover them, lid the bowl, and let them sit for 30 mins or so.

When I come back to the kitchen to cut them all up, they don’t look like they have really grown too much so I cut them all up, putting them in the pan as I go. It turns out it was more than I thought, the family, isn’t going to be so happy. I finish making dinner and drink the water the mushrooms were sitting in.

I love the earthy taste but the after feeling of slime is a bit much, think slippery elm. In the future I’m going to have to try pairing this with other things and see if I can get the slime feeling down to a silky feeling instead, it is so close already.

The family complained that there were too many mushrooms in dinner, next time they will watch or cut them up to make sure mom doesn’t go overboard. Hey, at least they didn’t say “no more mushrooms”.