Turns out there was an easy solution. And although I found out how easy it is to unmount the appliance, learn from me: the first check does not require moving the appliance at all.
(I think you still should turn off the power at the breaker on the outlet or the main breaker box before messing with issues of standing water around an electrical appliance though.)
Just under the sink and find the hose that drains the dishwasher to the main pipe.
Loosen the clamp, wiggle the hose off and see if anything is blocking the passage. I knew I had it right just by pulling off the hose because I could hear the water moving. I was able to remove the food jam with some tweezers.
While you have that hose off you can run the dishwasher (start a cycle to run the water, then cancel it to drain) and let the hose drain into a bucket to see that the blockage is clear. It's a happy moment.
Last step running those tweezers through a hot sanitizing cycle to rinse out the congealed oil and gook from the standing water incident.
Ultimate preventative first step, don't feed husbands pistachios in the shell :)
