No one ever expects chef David Burke to do anything the usual way. He's built a legendary career on playing with our expectations and making food fun. But we'll admit that even knowing about Burke's commitment to the element of surprise and flair for drama, we really did not see his Thanksgiving turkey recipe coming.
Let's set the scene: you're hosting Thanksgiving, and have an oven's worth of side dishes to cook and reheat. How can you lighten the load on this kitchen appliance during its most active day of the year? Burke says you can cook your Thanksgiving turkey in the dishwasher. Dishwasher turkey. You read that correctly. This is a dishwasher turkey recipe.
Yes. This kind of dishwasher. Can this really be done? Why would you ever even try to find out? Well, the legend goes like this:
In 1982, Burke worked as a private chef for a family in Oslo, Norway. The family requested cold poached salmon for a buffet that Sunday evening. The group of chefs went out and caught themselves a 10-pound salmon. After realizing they didn't have any cooking vessel large enough to cook the whole fish in, Burke's notorious creativity kicked into gear. He seasoned and wrapped the salmon, then hung it on the top rack of the dishwasher, where the glasses typically go. Three cycles later, he was rewarded with a perfectly poached whole fish, and has been experimenting ever since.
Which brings us to today. Now, before you all lose your freaking minds the way we did when we first heard about this, we want to stipulate that Burke is not suggesting you wrap up an entire, 20-pound Thanksgiving turkey in cling-film and toss it in the dishwasher -- his recipe calls for turkey breasts only. Still, if you want to give your oven a break (and probably freak out your relatives as an added bonus), we got Burke to share his Thanksgiving dishwasher turkey recipe with us.
Chef David Burke’s Dishwasher Turkey
- Mince the herbs, garlic and shallots, then combine with salt, pepper and olive oil. Rub into turkey breast and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in an open Tupperware container (just to hold everything in place) and sit on top shelf of dishwasher.
- Run dishwasher for 3 full cycles for a total time of about 3 hours and 25 minutes. Let sit for 25 minutes then place under broiler to crisp skin for finish.
Of course, everyone's dishwasher, like everyone's oven, will work a little differently. If you guys really try this, please, please, please tell us all about it.
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