You’re about to register for your wedding and you’ve decided to start with your kitchen. But what could you use? What do you actually need? One of the biggest mistakes couples make when registering is not knowing where to start and what to register for… and that’s where we come in. Today we’re sharing five kitchen essentials from Cuisinart you’ll absolutely need, use, and be glad you registered for. Plus, we’ll give you some ideas on how to use these products to create three delicious recipes for the holidays. Enjoy!
Kitchen Essentials for the Registry
Why you’ll love it: now you can spend less time prepping dinner and more time enjoying it! You can slow cook, roast, brown/sauté, or steam — even combination cook — with the touch of a button. Prepare meals ahead of time so they’re ready when you are (and not the other way around).
2. Extreme Brew Cuisinart Coffee Maker
Why you’ll love it: Anything with “coffee” and “extreme” is sure to pique my interest! When you’re registering for your wedding, avoid single brew coffee makers. Instead, opt for one that brews in a carafe, so you can make enough coffee for guests at one time. And if you don’t drink coffee, you’ll still want to have a coffee maker — it’s a kitchen essential for serving coffee with dessert when entertaining guests.
3. Cuisinart PowerAdvantage® Hand Mixer
Why you’ll love it: An electric hand mixer makes mixing even the biggest batches of cookies a snap. You’ll use this mixer for everything from cookies to pies to pastries.
4. Cuisinart Elemental 11 Cup Food Processor
Why You’ll Love It: It chops! It purees! It slices and shreds! This will make larger prep dinners so much easier.
5. 12-Piece Green-Gourmet® Cookware Set
Why you’ll love it: You NEED a good set of pots and pans, and this new Green-Gourmet™ line goes above and beyond a traditional set. Unlike other nonstick cookware, Cuisinart has developed the Ceramica™ technology, which requires less energy to reach desired cooking temperatures, while still providing high heat conductivity. The handles are made from 70% recycled stainless steel and the set is completely free of PTFE and PFOA.
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Now that you have the five kitchen essentials down here are a few ways you can start using them, right away! We’ve shared three holiday recipes by Cuisinart using a few kitchen appliances featured in our list above. There’s a make-ahead mashed potato casserole that will save you time, a sweet yam casserole that sound amazing for the holidays and pecan shortbread cookies just because they sounded delicious.
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Recipes
Do-Ahead Mashed Potatoes for the Holidays
By Cuisinart
Ingredients
2 medium onions, peeled
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup low-fat sour cream
8 ounces low-fat cream cheese, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
Cooking spray
Instructions
In a Cuisinart® 3-3/4 quart saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water, add 1 teaspoon salt. Cook over medium-high heat until tender, drain well and place in large mixing bowl.
While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the onions for topping. Melt butter in a 12-inch Cuisinart® skillet, cook stirring occasionally, until reduced and very lightly browned. Season with remaining salt and pepper. Transfer to large mixing bowl.
Beat potatoes with a Cuisinart® SmartPower mixer, starting on low speed. Add sour cream, cream cheese and minced garlic. Turn mixer to medium high, beat until smooth and slightly fluffy.
Spray the bottom and sides of a 2-quart soufflé dish with cooking spray. Fill with potato mixture. Top with onions. Place the rack into ceramic insert of a Cuisinart® Slow Cooker. Place soufflé dish on rack.
Cover and cook on Low Setting for 5 hours using the Timer Function – Slow Cooker will automatically switch to Keep Warm until ready to serve. Potatoes will be puffed and onions browned.
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Sweet Yam Casserole with Crunchy Pecan Topping
By Cuisinart.
Ingredients
cooking spray
11⁄2 pounds sweet potatoes or yams, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 tablespoons (3⁄4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1⁄4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
11⁄2 cups cornflakes, crushed
1⁄2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1⁄2 cup chopped pecans
6 tablespoons (3⁄4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
If baking immediately after preparing, preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly coat an 8-cup baking dish with cooking spray. Cook sweet potatoes in large pot of boiling water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; transfer potatoes to large bowl and add butter. Mix on Speed 1 for one minute, then increase to Speed 2 and beat until smooth. Add eggs, brown sugar, spices, salt and pepper; beat on Speed 1 to blend, about 30 seconds. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Bake potatoes in the preheated oven until they are slightly puffed and beginning to brown around the edges, about 25 to 30 minutes. While potatoes bake, prepare the topping by mixing the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the potatoes and bake about 10 minutes longer, until golden brown and crispy.
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Pecan Shortbread Linzer Cookies
By Cuisinart
Ingredients
1/2 cup toasted pecan halves
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioner’s sugar plus extra for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup raspberry jam
Instructions
Place the pecans and sugar in the work bowl of Cuisinart® 11 cup Food Processor fitted with the metal “s” blade. Pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal; remove and reserve. Place the flour, salt and confectioner’s sugar in work bowl. Pulse to mix dry ingredients together. Add the pecan/sugar mixture to reserved dry ingredients.
Distribute the butter evenly over dry ingredients in work bowl. Pulse to blend the butter with the dry ingredients, 10 to 12 pulses. Add the vanilla extract. Continue to pulse until the mixture form a dense dough. Remove dough and divide into two equal discs, wrap in plastic and place in refrigerator for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove one dough disc from refrigerator. On a floured surface, roll the dough to an even 1/8” thickness. Using a 2-inch fluted round cookie cutter, cut rounds and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 16-20 minutes, turning baking sheet half way through bake time, until the edges are golden. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
Repeat rolling and baking with remaining dough, this time using a 3/4 inch round cutter to cut out centers of the rounds.
Heat jam to soften either on the stovetop or in microwave.
Once cookies are cooled spread a 1/2-tablespoon of the warm jam over the entire surface of the uncut rounds. Top with the cut out rounds and press gently together to adhere. Dust the tops of the cookies with confectioner’s sugar.
If desired, add some additional jam to the hole.
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You can find out more about Cuisinart kitchen essentials and products for your wedding registry here.
Happy Registering!
xox
-E.
This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Cuisinart and BrideClick.
