Dinner from the dishwasher

 
I first read about this way of cooking salmon in Australian Vogue Entertaining and Travel. I thought it was maybe a joke or the writer's sarcastic humour. At first, it seems strange to think of using your dishwasher as a steaming oven, but, If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. The inside of the dishwasher has perfect atmospheric conditions, humid and hot, good enough to cook a fillet of fish to perfection. But without wanting to sound like a weather report, once I read the article, I knew that one day I would try it.

So, to successfully steam a salmon fillet in the dishwasher, you need:

1. Two or three pieces of strong tin foil.

2. A piece of salmon (Other meaty fish would work too - such as tuna, swordfish or halibut)

3. Olive oil, salt, pepper, juice of 1/2 lemon.

4. A dishwasher.

All that's required is to season the fish with the oil, seasonings and lemon, wrap tightly in foil, place into the mug compartment at the top of the dishwasher and program the washer to its highest and hottest setting. That's it! No dishwashing powder or tablet should be used, (obviously), so you can't really utilise the space for a full load of dishes! My dishwasher's normal cycle is 97 minutes long which sounds like an inordinate amount of time for salmon, but I trust in magazines.

To accompany the salmon, I stole an idea I saw on a Michael Smith episode, which at first made me think: 'Yuck!". But my ill-founded disgusted-ness was soon gone when I saw the end product. He had covered his salmon with beansprouts, with some hints of Chinese cooking, like sesame and wine, and it looked delicious. So, I placed some chopped peppers, asparagus, a sliced onion, 2 cloves garlic and 3 sliced radishes into a tin foil wrap, which I then placed a huge handful of beansprouts on top. I drizzled over some oil, 1 tsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp Chinese wine and 1 tsp sesame oil and seasoned well. This steamed in an oven at 375oC for 20 minutes.

Neil and I hovered around the dishwasher to wait for our perfectly cooked salmon, like two kids and, just like kids, our impatience won and we pulled the salmon out with 3 minutes to go. Initially, the fish looked a little strange as it had some residual juices or oil lying on top, but the taste was fantastic! The fish was not the perfectly succulent, medium rare described in the magazine, it was definitely cooked through very well but not dry at all and the flakes separated very easily. It was everything promised!

I made a Hollandaise sauce to go with it, using my trusty packet mix again, although I added some saffron and poured the vegetable juices into it which gave it a nice, Oriental touch.

I asked Neil whether he thought it would be possible to cook chicken breasts in the dishwasher, to which he replied "Why would you want to?" This made me wonder how someone thought of this cooking method in the first place, was it a happy accident, like most foodie discoveries? Research calls....And, to answer Neil's question, Why wouldn't you want to? And, yes, I will be trying it.