Tricks to ensure Mailliard/Browning reaction?
I've added some baking soda (specifically to onions while making French Onion Soup) to accelerate the Maillard reaction in the past and it seems to work rather well. 

A few more general steps can be taken to encourage this reaction:


  add protein (egg, milk), reducing sugar (glucose, fructose or lactose), remove water,
  increase temperature/pH


I read this article a while back on accelerating the Maillard Reaction and found it very interesting; I think it may be helpful to you as well! http://blog.khymos.org/2008/09/26/speeding-up-the-maillard-reaction/