Reggie Milligan Co-Founder of Mantry hosts "5 Remote Restaurants Around The World Worth Travelling To"

Link To Blog Post: https://goo.gl/iuhx4u

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Show Notes:

1. Berggasthaus Aescher-Wildkirchli // Weissbad, Switzerland

2. Hawk’s Craywfish // Rayne, Louisiana

3. Koks // Faroe Islands, Denmark

4. Fäviken // Järpen, Sweden

5. Doyle’s Seafood // Dingle, Ireland

Photo: Bon Appetite

Reggie Milligan Co-Founder of Mantry hosts "Avoid These 4 Common Pasta Mistakes"

Link To Blog Post: https://goo.gl/dXpFgo

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Show Notes:

1. Using Cold Sauce

Nothing will suck the heat out of your dinner faster than adding cold sauce out of the fridge to limp noodles in the bottom of the pot. As the water boils, gently heat the sauce, adding hot to hot will ensure your dinner is warm until the last bite.

2. DO Add The Pasta To The Sauce (Not Vice Versa)

Pasta is one of the only dishes where people tend to blindly add the main event to the sauce. Could you imagine squirting out a huge mound of HP Sauce and dropping a whole steak in it? Sauce to pasta ratio is important, by adding the pasta to the sauce you’ll find the right balance.

3. Letting The Pasta Water Go Down The Drain

Reserve a couple tablespoons of pasta water and add it to the sauce, it’s full of starch and will help the sauce coat the noodles and give it a nice shine.

4. Finish Pasta In A Pan

Pasta boiled and sauce warm? This is where good pasta becomes great. Add the pasta to the sauce, a couple spoons of pasta water, some herbs and a grate of cheese and toss over heat to bring it all together. This final step takes 1 minute and will take you from basic to Batali.

Reggie Milligan Co-Founder of Mantry hosts "3 Easy Tips For Perfect Mashed Potatoes"

Link To Blog Post: https://goo.gl/vhtLPN

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Show Notes:

1. Salt Bake Potatoes For The Perfect Mash

The French call it “Pomme Puree” and the secret to velvety mashed potatoes is to bake your spuds on a layer of salt. It draws out the moisture and leaves the inside light and fluffy so they can absorb more butter, cream and good stuff.

2. Rice Rice Baby

A simple potato ricer will help you create the creamiest mash the quickest.

3. Infuse Cream

Fat is the best vessel for flavor. Simply toss in a handful of woody herbs like rosemary or thyme and half a garlic head when heating the cream to add to the mash.

Reggie Milligan Co-Founder of Mantry hosts "12 Handy Thanksgiving Hacks"

Link To Blog Post: https://goo.gl/ShkkLA

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Show Notes:

1. The Tinfoil DIY Roasting Rack

2. Grate Frozen Butter Directly Into Pie Dough

3. Rice = Easy Pie Weights

4. Rolling Pin Replacement

5. Super-Fast Potato Peeling

7. Keep Mashed Potatoes Warm in a Slow Cooker.

8. Use The Cooler To Free Up Fridge Space

9. Small Crowd? Cook Turkey Parts Separately.

“Cook the turkey breast and leg meat separately. They cook at different rates, so this avoids overcooking/undercooking one part.’

-Chef Michael White

10. The Carve

“When carving your turkey, remove each breast and slice crosswise into thick slices (about ½-inch slices), then both legs, then the wings.”

-Bobby Flay

11. Use Oven-Dried, Not Stale, Bread for Better Stuffing

12. Get A Meat Thermometer

“Invest in a meat thermometer! It’s $25 and will not only improve your Thanksgiving turkey but will improve your roast beef, lamb and more throughout the year. Make sure you get one with an alarm. In order to have the perfect turkey and or roast the temp alarm will insure the right temperature without worrying about timing per pound.”

-Bryan Voltaggio

Photo: Saveur

Reggie Milligan Co-Founder of Mantry hosts "6 Tips for the Best Sandwich of Your Life"

Link To Blog Post: https://goo.gl/kQTnNP

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Show Notes:

1. Start With Bread Delicious Enough To Eat Plain

Much like the standby advice “only cook with wine you would drink” a good marker for the bread you use is “would you eat it straight up with nothing on it?”.

2. Layer Like A Burger

Think about building the sandwich they way you would build a burger. As you bite through, the toppings set the stage before you get to the main event of the patty. The first layers are about crispness, then maybe some creaminess with cheese and then the unctuous final protein layer.

3. Focus On The Spread

Pay attention to this underrated tip from Chef Roy Choi:

“To make a great sandwich, spread the mayonnaise from corner to corner on the bread. People rush this step and just do a swoosh down the middle. Every bite should be flavorful. Now that’s a sandwich!”

-Roy Choi, Kogi BBQ + The Line Hotel

4. Friction Is Your Friend

If you ever bite into a sandwich and it immediately falls apart, things are too slippery. Ingredients like tomatoes and cucumbers shouldn’t be stacked on each other, always alternate with rougher ingredients like lettuce or sliced onions in between. Tomato on tomato will scoot out the side, but tomato, arugula, tomato will lock in.

5. Sweeten Things Up

We love this tip from Tyler Kord of №7 Sub

“When you’re working with roast pork or short ribs or other savory things, that little balance of sweetness is what makes a dope sandwich,” .

A little bit of jam or honey can take a sandwich to the next level, especially to balance spicy elements.

Bacon, Jelly & Brie Sandwich | Craft Beer Belly Mantry

Ingredients

Broadbent’s Peppered Bacon

Anarchy In A Jar Spiced Beer Jelly

Sliced Apple

Brie

Crusty Bread

Directions

1) Crisp up Broadbent’s Bacon in a skillet

2) Smear Anarchy in a Jar Spicy Beer Jelly on bottom piece of bread and layer in brie, bacon, apple & arugula

3) Use a little extra bacon fat to grill the sandwich just until the brie gets gooey

Serve with an ice cold brew

Mantry Tip: Start bacon in a cold pan to help render the fat.

6. Season Between Layers

The biggest mistake you can make is not seasoning your sandwich but it’s also important to season layers appropriately. Tomatoes and vegetables should always get a sprinkle good salt, as well as a crack of pepper and salt on your mayo or base spread.

Photo: Snixy Kitchen

Reggie Milligan Co-Founder of Mantry hosts "5 Tips For People Who Love Spicy Food"

Link To Blog Post: https://goo.gl/bkAj2q

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Show Notes:

1. Milk Kills Spice

Gone too far? Did those Carolina Reaper pepper pancakes drive you into a fit of twitching and sweats? Down a glass of milk. Chilies contain a substance called capsaicin, milk binds with the hot capsaicin oils to disperse them.

2. The Seeds Are Where All The Heat Is

Scrape the seeds out to get more chili flavor without blow your face off heat. Adding whole peppers to stews and stir fries is another simple trick. Love heat? Slit the peppers open and have add it.

3. Grow Your Own

You don’t have to be Martha, just a pot and some sunlight and you’re living the dream.

4. Learn Your Chilis

Never underestimate the power of a corny poster to expand your food knowledge. Hang it somewhere you’ll see it daily for a month, voila you’re a chili aficionado.

Choose between Fresh or Dried!

5. Where Gloves When Chopping

Reggie Milligan Co-Founder of Mantry hosts "9 Unique Ways To Use Pickles"

Link To Blog Post: https://goo.gl/u3FZk4

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Show Notes:

1. On a BLT…

2. Add to egg or tuna salad like this Bacon Pickle Egg Salad Recipe Here.

3. Top a cheese burger with a pickle toothpick.

4. Add pickle juice to a Bloody Mary.

5. Add to a Red Snapper (Recipe Here).

6. Deep Fried Pickles

7. Add to a grilled cheese.

8. Cuban Sandwich Quesadilla

9. Pickleback Shot (Whiskey + Pickled Juice)

Reggie Milligan Co-Founder of Mantry hosts "6 Tips for Making the Best Burgers Ever"

Link To Blog Post: https://goo.gl/3BmJ5y

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Show Notes:

1. Always Fresh Ground Beef

Any decent butcher shop will have a great house burger blend or you can grind your own at home with a simple hand crank meat grinder . We love using fresh ground chuck because it has a nice balance of fat and flavor. If you’re feeling creative, you can add short rib, brisket or the Sean Brock tip (below).

2. Sean Brock’s Bacon Tip

“When grinding your own beef for burgers, grind in some bacon.”

-Sean Brock, Husk, Charleston, SC

3. 20% Fat Rule

If you’re grinding burgers yourself or having the butcher do it, a simple rule of thumb is to have a ratio of 80% lean to 20% fat

Bacon Jam Burger | Comfort Food Mantry

Ingredients

1 lb. fresh ground chuck

The Bacon Jams Bacon Spread

cheddar cheese

buns

salt + pepper

fixins’ (sliced pickle, lettuce, thin sliced onion etc.)

Directions

Season ground chuck with salt and pepper, form patties.

Heat vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet (let it get hot), brown patties on both sides, add cheese, cook to preference.

Toast the bun and smear with Bacon Spread

Layer patty and fixins’ on bun, pour a beer, enjoy.

Pro Tip: Remove ground beef from the fridge an hour early for more even cooking.

4. Indent The Top

Here’s an awesome tip from Iron Chef Bobby Flay:

“Using your thumb, make a deep depression in the center of each patty to keep the burger from puffing up and bulging in the center. Otherwise, “It plumps up like a football and people smash it down. That’s the last thing you want to do,” Flay says. This technique “fakes out the burger,” he says, and the patty ends up taking the exact shape you want.”

-Bobby Flay, Iron Chef

5. Have A Heavy Hand With The Salt +Pepper

The key to bringing out the full flavor of the meat and developing a satisfying crust on the burger is to season liberally with Kosher Salt (We like Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt) and fresh cracked pepper. Season right before the grill and make sure to focus on each patty and cover the entire surface, no just a sprinkle across the batch from above.

6. Grape Seed + Cast Iron

A zipping hot cast iron can get the perfect crust for your burger, a little grape seed or canola has a high smoke point so you can get the pan nice and hot. The grill is great for a smoke flavor but if you’re looking for a crust, go cast iron.

Photo: Dennis The Prescott

Reggie Milligan Co-Founder of Mantry hosts "8 More Cookbooks That Will Improve Your Life"

Link To Blog Post: https://goo.gl/JWPNHb

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Show Notes:

1. My Paris Kitchen — David Lebovitz

2. Mallmann On Fire — Francis Mallmann

3. The Food Lab — J. Kenji López-Alt

4. Tacopedia — Deborah Holtz, Juan Carlos Mena, René Redzepi

5. Senegal — Pierre Thiam

6. Love & Lemons — Jeanine Donofrio

7. Heritage — Sean Brock

8. Zahav — Michael Solomonov

Reggie Milligan Co-Founder of Mantry hosts "6 Sanity Saving Thanksgiving Tips"

Link To Blog Post: https://goo.gl/CXnQP5

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Show Notes:

1. Start Early

Two cider sipping afternoons is much more enjoyable than one frantic day of hustle. We like the three day structure…shop, prep, cook.

2. Defend Oven Space

Prepping sides early and on the stove will save you that cherished oven space you’ll need for roasting the bird.

3. Go To The Butcher Early

If you give your butcher a couple weeks notice you can order a fresh turkey which tastes far better than a frozen bird and you avoid the hassle of thawing.

4. The Secret To Crispy Skin

Leave your turkey unwrapped in the fridge overnight for crispier skin.

5. Respect The Meat Thermometer

In the word’s of IRON CHEF Michael Symon

“Don’t be too cool for a meat thermometer.”

6. Don’t Stuff The Stuffing

Listen, stuffing is way more reliable, easier to prep (and shhh…more delicious) when cooked outside the bird.

3 Solid Stuffing Recipes:

Classic Stuffing // Saveur Magazine

2. Classic Sage and Sausage Stuffing (or Dressing) Recipe // Serious Eats

3. “Simple Is Best” Stuffing // Epicurious

Photo: Epicurious