Jessica Merchant's Blog, page 383
December 28, 2016
Cheesy Pork Enchiladas with 10 Minute Smoky Enchilada Sauce.
If only I could be covered in a blanket of cheese like this.
It would be oh-so perfect right?!
Maybe that should be my new years resolution. Start cheese installations. CHECK.
Two of my favorite things are making out in these photos. Pulled pork AND enchiladas… oh my word. It’s this time of year that I absolutely crave any sort of Mexican food (and Italian food too, which is weird since it’s my least favorite cuisine) but I think it has to be because everything else is all turkey, filet or ham. And potatoes and traditional dishes that I’m just DONE with.
Give me some cheesy, slightly spicy comfort food and I’m good to go.
So. The pork! I included the quick slow cooker recipe here for you just in case. You can make it a day or two ahead, the morning of, or even just make the pork for sandwiches or whatever you’d like! I use this amazing slow cooker that allows me to sear in the crock (you might have noticed in my vlogs before Christmas) and it’s so life changing that I’m using it more than I normally would.
If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can totally sear this on the stovetop and then roast it low and slow in your oven until the pork is falling apart.
The moral of the story is… it’s almost New Years! Pork is good luck! Let’s eat some pork and make 2017 lucky.
At least that is my excuse.
This enchilada sauce recipe is my all-time favorite. Hands down!
I can’t even come close to using any sort of sauce from a can (I did for years) anymore. It will seriously only take 10 minutes – maybe a FEW more if you’re not savvy in the kitchen, but it won’t be much) – and you can always make this ahead of time too if you’re having a party or whatnot.
P.S. if you are, please invite me.
HELLO. Can we talk about this meltiness?!
Speaking of New Years, I’ll be at home on the couch with some of my family and little chubbalove. We very rarely go out on NYE (and especially not now that Max exists) because I think that all of the food coming out of my kitchen is so much better than everywhere else on a busy, overpriced holiday night.
It also gives me another excuse to make a terribly obnoxious cheeseboard and well, you know that I live for that. I’m possibly also going to recreate these enchiladas because they were FREAKING AMAZING.
And yeah, maybe I should tone down the excitement in 2017, but when it comes to cheesy pork, I just cannot.
Cheesy Pork Enchiladas with 10 Minute Smoky Enchilada Sauce
Yield: serves 4
Total Time: 1 hour for enchis, 8 to 10 hours for pork
Ingredients:
slow cooker pork
5 pounds boneless pork tenderloin roast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
4 ounces your favorite beer
enchiladas
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
8 ounces monterey jack cheese, freshly grated
4 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, freshly grated
8 to 10 flour or corn tortillas
cilantro for topping, lime for spritzing
enchilada sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
15 ounces tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/4 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
I included the directions here for the pork in the slow cooker, but you can obviously use leftover pork or make the pork a day or two ahead!
Season the pork with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil over medium-high heat (my slow cooker does this, if yours doesn't, do it in a dutch oven on the stovetop!) and add the pork, searing it on all sides. You want each side to be golden brown. Place the pork in the slow cooker and add the beer. Cook for 8 to 10 hours, or until the pork falls apart easily.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
To make the enchilada filling, add about 2 cups of shredded pork to a large bowl. Stir in the garlic, green chilis and half of the monterey jack and cheddar cheeses. Add 1/3 cup of the enchilada sauce. Stir to combine.
Add another 1/3 cup of the sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Add the pork filling to the center of each tortilla and roll them tightly, placing them next to each other in the dish. When finished, cover the tortillas with the remaining sauce and both cheeses Bake for 30 minutes, until the cheese is golden and melted on top.
enchilada sauce
Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Whisk in the flour and cook until it is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk together, bringing the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 more minutes before using.
Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag your recipes with #howsweeteats! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page. I appreciate you so much!
Enchi besties.
The post Cheesy Pork Enchiladas with 10 Minute Smoky Enchilada Sauce. appeared first on How Sweet It Is.
December 27, 2016
Tuesday Things.
1. How absolutely gorgeous is this rose granita with vanilla bean ice cream?!
2. In what is probably everyone’s nightmare, we went to the mall yesterday and it was insane. Like worse that it has been in previous years. I want/need some nice/cute/practical snow boots so pleeeease leave your recommendations.
3. We didn’t really watch any TV this week with the holiday, but we did start watching the O.A. on netflix! Have you watched? Thoughts?
4. Definitely can’t get over everyone taking their trees down on Christmas or the day after! I consider the entire week between Christmas and New Years to still be holiday time and we don’t take down anything until January. I never want it to end!
5. I instagrammed every single one of these things this past year… except for the bagels. I cannot get behind those bagels. I mean, I think they are SO pretty. But ingesting one? No thanks.
6. Before we had Max, Eddie and I would do one big series binge over the holidays and barely move from the couch for two or three days until we finished. Obviously that isn’t possible anymore, but we’re still looking for a (newish) show to most likely fall asleep on the couch to. Throw me your ideas.
7. LOVE these leadership goals for 2017.
8. Speaking of 2017, last year I couldn’t get my act together to make a vision board and I find that my years always feel more… organized? inspiring? when I make one! I’m on it this week. Since I’m a magazine junkie, I find it super fun.
The post Tuesday Things. appeared first on How Sweet It Is.
December 26, 2016
2016 Recipe Disasters!
It’s the most wonderful day of the year… if you want to see all the stuff I completely messed up in 2016!
This is one of my favorite posts to write every year – and I actually went back month by month and found things I had completely forgot about. This year was baaaad. I don’t think it was quite as terrible as last year, but it was still rough. I might also dedicate an entire post to cookbook recipe fails. Ooomph.
This is seventh year I’m sharing my disasters and oooooh there have been some great ones. See here for previous years:
And let’s see the worst of the worst to come out of my kitchen.
Waaaaaay too much going on here in this lovely sight. Chorizo, queso cheese, whole wheat orzo… it’s a great recipe! For disaster. I wanted to love this so much but it was a complete mess full of way too many components.
I like this recipe (and actually referenced it in my videos last week) but the photos turned out terribly. Sliced sausage or kielbasa is not my wheelhouse. It always looks so awfully GROSS to me.
First, what am I even doing by trying to use this bowl as a legit… well… BOWL?
Second, this is the blandest pasta known to man.
Third, how awkward is my fork. And is that goat cheese? Or feta? I don’t even know.
These cookie bars had so much hope. But they were dry AF. The end.
My cheesy garlic pull-apart bread literally started to crumble down the center. I don’t think I followed a recipe, because apparently I know everything. Can’t you tell?
Ugh. This was horrific. I think I reverted back to 2009 or something with this photo and recipe of frittata muffins. The most unappetizing photo ever. Egg muffins that weren’t even good. You know life is bad if I’m adding sriracha.
These look like the most perfect chewy hold-together granola bars, don’t they?!
No, they don’t. They were an insane crumbly mess.
My lemon meringue pie was so liquidy that it couldn’t even be cut. WHYYYYYYYYYY.
To be real, I have NOOOO idea what was going on here. I think that I was trying to make blackberry or strawberry sorbet or something. As you can see, it turned out great.
If you liked watered down ice cream.
And. The whole “oh-I-placed-ice-cream-scoops-on-my-counter-in-a-super-artsy-way” really worked out for me well. NOT.
This salad was good in theory but a mess in real life. I wanted there to be kale and fingerling potatoes but also soft boiled eggs and bacon and apparently blue cheese and there was just way too much going on when I tested the recipe again. It was trying to be too many things to too many people. It was like three recipes in one.
Remember the olive oil banana muffins I shared a few months ago?
The first few tries were a complete disaster. And I have no idea what I did.
Oh boy. Doesn’t this just look DELICIOUS. Creamy dijon chicken did not work out so well for us. I burned the chicken and the sauce was thick and heavy. Ick. Then I tried to throw it over pasta and it was like NOOOOO.
I was SO excited to make this holiday pear pie with snow flake cut out crust!
It came out with edges burned and other pieces completely uncooked, solidifying the fact that I can do crap with pie crust.
Two weeks ago, I tried to make gingerbread crepes to share right before Christmas. They completely sucked. I made up the recipe on the fly and came out with nothing edible.
And just last week, I used my favorite tried and true gingersnap recipe and got this result. I couldn’t figure out WHERE I had gone wrong, until I made it THREE more times the exact same way. And it dawned on my that I doubled the butter for the each batch, but not the rest of the ingredients. So smart.
There were a bunch more fails this year and even some that were regular dinner or lunch recipes. These are definitely the highlights though. Along with dropping seven gallons of turkey brine on the kitchen floor on Thanksgiving morning. THAT WAS AWESOME.
So tell me! What was your biggest of 2016?
The post 2016 Recipe Disasters! appeared first on How Sweet It Is.
December 23, 2016
12 Days of Christmas! Day 12: Baking Extravaganza and a Copper Kitchenaid Mixer Giveaway! {CLOSED!}
Here’s a peek at all of the treats we’ve been baking this week! Thank you guys so much for all of your awesome support on my 12 days of Christmas! Have a great week!
Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Williams Sonoma Baking Sheets is Terri A who said “hard to choose, but I’d say snickerdoodles!”
Congrats Terri! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!
GIVEAWAY!
Today’s giveaway finale is this STUNNING copper Kitchenaid Mixer! I love this so much, it is so incredibly beautiful and I wish that I could give every single one of you one of them. Thank you so much for being here. You are the BEST. This giveaway is given by my and is open to everyone EVERYWHERE.
To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me what your one wish would be if you were granted just ONE.
For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on instagram and leave a comment telling me you did so.
For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.
The giveaway will only be open for 72 hours (!!), ending on 12/26/16 at 4PM EST, so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo
UPDATE: Congrats to Maddi R who said “I would want to be able to give the people I love something they really want/need for Christmas!! My sister is such a hard worker and a talented baker trying to get through school, and a copper KitchenAid is her absolute DREAM! 
12 Days of Christmas! Day 12: Baking Extravaganza and a Copper Kitchenaid Mixer Giveaway!
Here’s a peek at all of the treats we’ve been baking this week! Thank you guys so much for all of your awesome support on my 12 days of Christmas! Have a great week!
Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Williams Sonoma Baking Sheets is Terri A who said “hard to choose, but I’d say snickerdoodles!”
Congrats Terri! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!
GIVEAWAY!
Today’s giveaway finale is this STUNNING copper Kitchenaid Mixer! I love this so much, it is so incredibly beautiful and I wish that I could give every single one of you one of them. Thank you so much for being here. You are the BEST. This giveaway is given by my and is open to everyone EVERYWHERE.
To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me what your one wish would be if you were granted just ONE.
For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on instagram and leave a comment telling me you did so.
For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.
The giveaway will only be open for 72 hours (!!), ending on 12/26/16 at 4PM EST, so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo
The post 12 Days of Christmas! Day 12: Baking Extravaganza and a Copper Kitchenaid Mixer Giveaway! appeared first on How Sweet It Is.
Merry Merry.
wishing so much love to you and yours this holiday season. thank you forever for being here! xoxo
The post Merry Merry. appeared first on How Sweet It Is.
December 22, 2016
12 Days of Christmas! Day 11: Q + A and a Giveaway! {CLOSED}
Thanks for asking all of these questions guys! I filmed in the dark, Max is running around screaming, the quality is not great, but I’m uploading and sharing anyway. Total real life and it’s kind of embarrassing. It is also THIRTY SEVEN (omg) minutes long and the amount of times I paused the video and was horrified at my expression? Too many to count.
Just a note that tomorrow’s last video and (HUGE!!!) giveaway will be uploaded a bit later – around 3 or 4PM EST. Lacy and I are having our big baking day and I’m going to film some it! Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s giveaway because it’s absolutely incredible and gorgeous!
Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Jo Malone treats is Ashley who said “I definitely wore the Lucky You perfume by Lucky Brand. Honestly, I was complimented on it ALL THE TIME, so I’m not even sure why I stopped wearing it?!”
Congrats Ashley! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!
Things mentioned in the video:
The Food Summit (use code HOWSWEETEATS today and tomorrow 12/22 and 12/23 for $75 OFF(!!) your registration!)
Blogs mentioned:
GIVEAWAY!
Today’s giveaway is a set of the BEST baking sheets from Williams Sonoma! I just recently bought these and they are fabulous.
To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite holiday cookie.
For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.
For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.
The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!), ending on 12/23/16 at 12 noon, at so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo
The post 12 Days of Christmas! Day 11: Q + A and a Giveaway! {CLOSED} appeared first on How Sweet It Is.
12 Days of Christmas! Day 11: Q + A and a Giveaway!
Thanks for asking all of these questions guys! I filmed in the dark, Max is running around screaming, the quality is not great, but I’m uploading and sharing anyway. Total real life and it’s kind of embarrassing. It is also THIRTY SEVEN (omg) minutes long and the amount of times I paused the video and was horrified at my expression? Too many to count.
Just a note that tomorrow’s last video and (HUGE!!!) giveaway will be uploaded a bit later – around 3 or 4PM EST. Lacy and I are having our big baking day and I’m going to film some it! Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s giveaway because it’s absolutely incredible and gorgeous!
Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Jo Malone treats is Ashley who said “I definitely wore the Lucky You perfume by Lucky Brand. Honestly, I was complimented on it ALL THE TIME, so I’m not even sure why I stopped wearing it?!”
Congrats Ashley! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!
Things mentioned in the video:
The Food Summit (use code HOWSWEETEATS today and tomorrow 12/22 and 12/23 for $75 OFF(!!) your registration!)
Blogs mentioned:
GIVEAWAY!
Today’s giveaway is a set of the BEST baking sheets from Williams Sonoma! I just recently bought these and they are fabulous.
To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite holiday cookie.
For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.
For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.
The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!), ending on 12/23/16 at 12 noon, at so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo
The post 12 Days of Christmas! Day 11: Q + A and a Giveaway! appeared first on How Sweet It Is.
Christmas Morning Mimosas.
Merry merry!
Determined to get you in the holiday spirit, I’m serving you a cocktail so full of festive sparkle that you can’t resist.
I have a ridiculously, embarrassingly easy recipe for you today, but it brings me so much joy that I couldn’t NOT share it! If you’ve been following along with my 12 days of Christmas videos, you probably know that last year, I shot this recipe at the last minute and the photos were a mess. It wasn’t something that I could reshoot and I was just… DONE with 2015 at that point, so I figured that I’d wait a year and see if I still was into the drink.
Spoiler alert: I am! Woohoo.
Aren’t these just adorably fun and cute?
I don’t love mimosas with orange juice (unless it’s blood orange) and often prefer them with grapefruit juice over anything else. And while I never drink cranberry juice on it’s own, I love the mix of the juice with the champagne. It’s the perfect combo of tart and sweetness.
The rosemary is just a garnish, so don’t freak. Your drink won’t taste like rosemary.
The sugared cranberries are also really just a garnish and you drop them in right before serving. You can eat them if you want to be a rebel.
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Do you have any Christmas morning traditions? Eddie and I are still working on our own, especially since Max is only two. But growing up, we’d wake up to a huuuuge hand written letter from Santa (the year that we got our first computer, Santa TYPED his letter which was so insane! omg!), my dad would read it, and inside the letter it would tell us which wrapping paper belonged to my brothers and me.
We’d open gifts and just hang out for the entire morning in front of the Christmas tree with Christmas music playing. It was the best.
This year, our morning will probably be similar here, but just with the three of us. Eddie has already been lighting the trees and turning on Christmas music every morning. I’m thinking of doing cinnamon rolls or something and then – mimosas for us!
It’s like a Christmas present for you wrapped up in a champagne flute. How fun!
Christmas Morning Mimosas
Yield: serves 6
Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1 (750mL) bottle champagne
3/4 cup cranberry, blood oramge or pomegranate juice (your preference!)
rosemary springs, for garnish
sugared cranberries for garnish
sugared cranberries
4 ounces fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
Directions:
Add an ounce or so of juice to the bottom of a champagne flute. Fill it up with champagne, garnish with rosemary and sugared cranberries, and serve!
sugared cranberries
Add 1 cup of the sugar and the water to a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until the sugar dissolves and bring the mixture to a boil, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes. Set it aside until it is cool enough to touch. Once the syrup is cool, either dunk the cranberries in it or pour the liquid over top of them in a bowl. Place the remaining sugar on a plate. I find the cranberries stay the prettiest if you try to remove any syrup "globs" and roll them in sugar one at a time.
Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag your recipes with #howsweeteats! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page. I appreciate you so much!
And we shall have the merriest house in all the land.
The post Christmas Morning Mimosas. appeared first on How Sweet It Is.
December 21, 2016
12 Days of Christmas! Day 10: howsweeteats Squad Dinner and a Giveaway! {CLOSED}
Are you as embarrassed by my title as I am?!
Last night, we went out for howsweeteats holiday dinner! It was super fun, we went to the Christmas pop up bar (Christmas totally threw up all over the place) and had dinner at Revel and Roost. I love being in the city at christmastime.
Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Mackenzie- Childs champagne flutes is Leslie who said “Those flutes are beautiful! NYE will be spent drinking champagne and ordering pizza at home with my husband and pooch! We’ll probably watch When Harry Met Sally. :)
Congrats Leslie! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!
GIVEAWAY!
Today’s giveaway is another one for my beauty lovers! You will win three of my favorite Jo Malone products, but you can pick the scent so it will be something you love. xoxo!
To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me the perfume or cologne that you wear/wore as a teenager. For me, it was Lovespell and Amber Romance from Victoria’s Secret. I bathed in those.
For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.
For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.
The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!), ending on 12/22/16 at 12 noon, at so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo
The post 12 Days of Christmas! Day 10: howsweeteats Squad Dinner and a Giveaway! {CLOSED} appeared first on How Sweet It Is.
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