**I received a complimentary Mantry crate at launch, in hopes I would share my honest thoughts here on Momma Told Me Blog 2014. All photos and thoughts below are copyright Momma Told Me Blog 2014.
Momma Told Me: Men aren't complicated. They simply want to be fed.
They say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach; for me, there's nothing more attractive than a man who can cook. And I'm not talking about laying out a platter of Cheez Wiz on Ritz crackers- I mean a spatula wielding, sauce basting, meat grilling kind of guy. There's a reason every Hallmark mom is portrayed by a woman in bed with a freshly prepared platter of food. Beyond the desire to reverse roles, or feel pampered, there is something sexy about a man with a palette; just look at the business Gordon Ramsay has devised with his likeness and name alone! And now, more than ever, the modern man is becoming more and more discerning about what they put on their plate.
Finally there is a subscription box for the Man's Man the man with a stomach that has a voice of it's own; the man that considers baby carrots a garnish rather than food, the man who picks his coffee for the aromatic notes rather than the licensed picture on the side of the bag. The Mantry box truly is the modern man's pantry, a carefully curated monthly collection of fine flavors and epicurean indulgences sampled and picked from hidden gems across the country. It's a gathering of authentic flavors that represent regions and lifestyles; independent and artisan brands that, in most cases, deal exclusively with specific product (brittle, sausage, rubs) to hone it's perfection. And, most importantly, a frills free guide to these products and how to put them to work to ignite taste buds.
Considered 'Food For Men,' the Campfire Cookout themed monthly box I received from Mantry was certainly the ideal curation for any man in my life. Packed with coffee rub, bourbon nib toffee, summer sausage, heat infused salsa, beer bread mix, and hickory smoked bacon, this was a cookout begging to happen. With full size 'products,' most individual indulgences or highlighting ingredients, the value of the
Mantry was evident from the get-go. This was not your ordinary box, there were no fluffy crumpled paper or tissue fillers, it was 100% Mantry. Pure, delicious, artisan sourced foods with a beautifully illustrated preparation and pairing booklet.
There are few men one couldn't win over with a slab of Broadbent's Hickory Smoked dry cured bacon- a shelf stable perfection for any camp out or lazy afternoon skillet. I was happy to indulge my creative side when pairing the Just Cook Herbed Coffee Rub as a crisp cure to the bacon's edges. Crafted in San Francisco, Just Cook is a hearty blend of herbs and flavors that, in this case, pairs ground coffee for a slightly acidic rub base to compliment the inclusion of chipolte and cumin. Yes, it smells as delicious as it looks, and a little goes a long way to flavor town!
It wouldn't be the modern man's pantry without a little chocolate and bourbon, so The Campfire Cookout collection included something a little sweet with a box of Olive + Sinclair Bourbon Nib Brittle. From Nashville, TN, this delicacy features stone ground single-origin cacao beans cured in local bourbon barrels and melted into the golden river that is brittle toffee. These generous chunks of chocolate topped brittle were hearty in portion and a decadent indulgence as the rich semisweet coating melted with each crumbling bite. As a red-blooded chocolate loving woman, this spoke to my very core.
Hailing from New York, and made with traditional techniques by a Mexico City expat, the small batch handcrafted La Fundidora Fuego salsa brought a manly sense of heat to the collection. Perfect for a rustic morning omelet, or over a slice of the collection's Soberdough Green Cheddar Chili Brew Bread, the easy spread texture of this mellow heat salsa was full of tomatillo and arbor chile flavor. In general, all of the savory flavors of the Mantry box lent themselves to pairing with one-another; particularly in a hearty skillet or breakfast style meal.
Which lead me to create the above breakfast skillet featuring Mantry's
Campfire Cookout Vermont Smoke + Cure Summer Sausage. Scratch made in small batches, using local Vermont meats, this Summer sausage has refined the flavors of rustic and made a classic 'man meat' staple even better. With a few slices grilled in a skillet, some fried hasbrowns, a sunny side up egg, and bagel core topped with Fuego salsa, I created the perfect breakfast surprise and secured my amazing girlfriend status for yet another month. Best of all, where some 'boxes' disappear quickly, we were enjoying the provisions of our Mantry box for weeks in cooking endeavors and midnight brittle samplings.
What Daughter Says: Ditch the garnishes and get down to flavor. You don't have to be a man to eat like one.
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