Sunday 25 October 2009

Fish-Washer Salmon

It’s almost as if God designed the dishwasher to cook salmon in. Our Bosch dish washer even comes with a “cooking” setting. Dishwashers are ideal for cooking in. They’ve got a “nice rack” (couldn’t resist) on the top to place food on and a fool proof way of setting a constant temperature. They are also so cavernous you could cook enough fish to feed the thousands.





So, given that dishwashers are almost perfectly designed for cooking in, why don’t we do it more often? Especially when it creates such a stir at a dinner party. So if you want to see what you’ve been missing out on read on…

Salmon in foil

We marinated our salmon in a mixture of soy, ginger, chilli, coriander and shallots before wrapping them in neat parcels of strong foil which have been brushed with oil. Just make sure they are watertight by turning them over a few times.

Soy mix

Salmon for the dishwasher

Set the dishwasher on its highest setting (around 60’c) and let it work its magic for a full cycle. There’s clearly no need for any dishwasher powder or power balls. When it beeps peek inside and remove your silvery parcels. They should feel firm when they once felt limp.

Salmon in the dishwasher

Tear open the wrapping paper and serve with noodles and stir fried vegetables.

Salmon post dishwasher

The flesh flaked perfectly and was remarkably well cooked. The salmon was very juicy and tasted delicious. The only downside was that the skin was soggy. But if you wanted, or had time, you could crisp it up in a pan. However, I wouldn’t suggest using skinless fillets as the skin helps to hold the salmon together.

It’s a foolproof way of injecting some fun into a dinner party and is incredibly easy. You might want to play around with the marinade and possibly cooking with a whole salmon or possibly a trout. I’m keen to try this with sumac next, and then come the summertime, with cucumber with a lovely hollandaise sauce on the side.

I’m convinced that it must be possible to cook pork belly in the washing machine. But I haven’t plucked up the courage to give it a go yet. If you’ve got any more lateral approaches to cooking with things that aren’t intended for culinary use, let me know and I’ll try it out.

(Thanks to Helen for the name. I was going to call it "Bish, Bash, Bosch Salmon", but Fish-Washer Salmon is a million times better.)

27 comments:

Helen said...

I LOVE IT! I really want to buy a dishwasher just so I can cook things in it. I think I would get a bit obsessed though - every time I passed an ingredient in a shop, "could I cook that in the dishwasher?" I think this should be the beginning of a series...

Browners said...

@Helen - I absolutely love this sort of cooking. I just find it so much fun. I've been wanting to make this sort of thing into a series for ages... I've just struggled to find the time... so I think now is the time to launch a series called something like "lateral cooking". I've already started tagging some posts with "lateral" to help to organise things in my head...

But next up will be more stuff in the dishwasher and maybe a bit of car engine cooking... and possibly something cooked with hair straighteners... if you've got any ideas whip them over!

Kerri said...

This is such a brilliant idea, so much fun! I think the hair straightener idea would be great too, particularly if you could find something that needed curling in some way.

Jenny said...

Bacon on curling tongs could be interesting... My laptop also gets pretty hot, I'm sure you could warm some pitta bread under there.

(have you seen this? http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/08/video-how-to-cook-a-meal-in-your-hotel-room-george-egg.html)

Browners said...

@Kerri - I'm excited about the hair straighteners. Bacon could be the way forward... Or maybe crumpets, gyozas or something else of that size.

@Jenny - Laptops and hard drives generate a lot of heat. I've heard of people cooking eggs on them. And the Serious Eats link is great. That's just the sort of thing I was thinking of.

Helen @ World Foodie Guide said...

I was looking forward to your post after you tweeted about this! I don't even own a dishwasher but I would get one if I could cook with it...try the lasagne next time!

Jenny said...

Ok, so I wandered off into the rest of the internet and now cannot escape lateral cooking...

http://blog.khymos.org/2009/10/24/superfast-scrambled-eggs/

Browners said...

@Helen Y-P - The lasagne in the dishwasher is such a clever idea. Definitely going to give it a go.

@Jenny - Keep it coming! Espresso steam scrambled eggs is inspired. The Khymos blog is awesome.

Anonymous said...

such a cool idea! I don't have the same settings on my american washer though- i have heavy wash, normal wash and light wash....im thinking normal might do the trick? did you let it run the whole way through the cycle? mine runs for 90 minutes....sounds a bit long to me

Krista said...

Just double-checked and my dishwasher definitely does not have a Cooking setting! Loved this piece. What's next? Something in the washing machine?

Browners said...

@LondonFoodieNY - I reckon you should give the normal setting a go first for the full 90 minutes and see how it works. And then start to experiment. They're all quite idiosyncratic. Maybe have a look in the instruction manual for "Cooking times".

@Krista - Haha. The joys of photoshop. Washing machine is up my sleeve. But I think I might get in trouble! Safer options include hair tongs, hard drives and flood lights. O. And car engines.

The Cooking Ninja said...

I can't believe you actually did it. Lol! That is so cool.

Now that's what I call a true dinning experience and entertainment. :)

Browners said...

@The Cooking Ninja - Glad you liked it. I'm hoping it's the start of a lot of interesting experiments!

Unknown said...

I really thought this was a joke, like the first time I heard "fish taco"! So fun and entertaining. Absolutely perfect title!

Browners said...

@Heather - The title is all Helen's work. Inspired stuff from her. It was so much fun to do. Give it a go. You'll love it.

theundergroundrestaurant said...

Excellent. I once washed delicate tasselled stripper type shoes in the dishwasher.
But I'm going to start making drinks in the dishwasher: butterscotch liqueur for instance.

catty said...

oh wow this is SO COOL :D I don't use my dishwasher to wash (I'm an old fashioned hand washing type of gal) so it's being used as storage but WOW this is definitely an awesome idea and a conversation starter. I think I'm brave enough to give it a go :)

The Cooking Ninja said...

Lol! Think I'm going to do just this for my PIL when they come over for dinner. I can just imagine the look on their face.

Browners said...

@The Underground Restaurant - Love the story about your stripper shoes. It seems dishwashers are the ultimate multi-functional device.

@catty - I love the fact you use your dishwasher for storage purposes! Give it a go. It's super easy.

@The Cooking Ninja - This is ideal for causing a stir with in laws. Let me know how you get on. And if possible get a picture of the look on their faces.

Toasted Special said...

Absolutely inspired stuff! Food blogging needs more posts like this... :)

Browners said...

@Toasted Special - Thanks. Hopefully there is plenty more to come.

Anonymous said...

Genius idea. I'm going to be cooking for a ski chalet for 10 this season.

This is how i will be cooking my en papillote. An extra oven.. I owe you one..!

Funthyme

Browners said...

@funthyme - What a great way to impress your chalet-mates. Let me know how it goes.

Just Cook It said...

This is genius. If only I had a dishwasher! Looks beautiful and I imagine the flavour was pretty intensely salmon-y. Might have to give this a go with the water bath

Browners said...

@Just Cook It - The world is your oyster with a water bath. I'm extremely envious.

Cakelaw said...

Extraordinary! I thought the car engine cooking was good, but this takes the cake.

Rosie said...
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