You’ll Never Guess What Watching ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ Inspired Me to Buy

Let’s just say it’s Oliver Putnam related.

Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building is well into its third season and I spent the last few days binging it to catch up. While each episode typically brings forth another potential suspect, one thing remains consistent: The intense love Martin Short’s character, Oliver Putnam, has for dips. 

Putnam doesn’t shun any dips —besides salsas for some reason — but has specifically called out options that he loves like onion dip, tzatziki, and hummus. When grocery shopping, I’ve often put a popular brand of classic, no-frills hummus in my cart. But since becoming an avid Only Murders viewer, my curiosity has been piqued around what other dips I could nosh on. I’m never going to operate my own dip empire like the one featured in the show, but introducing a mini food processor into my kitchen has shown me how easy it is to make flavor-packed dips at home.

Cuisinart Mini-Prep Food Processor

In addition to its wallet-friendly price, the Cuisinart Mini-Prep food processor delivers a great deal of value. It has a 24 ounce capacity, a feature I know Putnam would love, since in my experience, pre-packaged dips are usually half this amount. Like the characters in the show, I’m based in New York City which means kitchen counter space comes at a premium. The Mini-Prep isn’t the smallest food processor Cuisinart has to offer, but it’s still compact enough to take up minimal countertop space. 

The processor only comes with two touchpad controls: chop and grind. As someone who can get overwhelmed with too many gadget buttons, the simplicity in what the Mini-Prep offers is very welcome in my home. With its brushed chrome surface, it focuses less on flashy features and simply doing a good job. 

It also has what the brand calls an “Auto Reversing Smart Blade” which allows users to more easily process hard or soft items. One detail I’ve appreciated is how efficient this food processor can be. Whenever I add food into the processing cup, I’m pleased to watch it get pulled down towards the blade and thoroughly refined. This is absolutely necessary when making dishes like dips and spreads.

And, oh, how I have become obsessed with making dips.

For instance, I’ve grown fond of a whipped feta dip that I found thanks to some very productive TikTok ‘research.’ All I do is throw in a hunk of feta, some sour cream, fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper, and I’m good to go. I’ve prepared different types of hummus as well, and when I pair the two dips together, it feels like I’m at a restaurant. 

Best of all, it’s easy to clean since all of the parts are dishwasher-safe. I don’t have to worry about scraping feta or hummus from every corner, and I can’t imagine Putnam would want to do that, either. 

Here’s the bottom line: Only Murders in the Building might be focused on solving murders, but the real mystery here is why you haven’t added this Cuisinart Mini-Prep to your kitchen yet.

Originally published on Food & Wine.