Chef John Halligan, a James Beard Award winner, set about cooking 600 pounds of chicken at a time, serving them cafeteria-style.

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What's more you can set it to start cooking at a certain time - and then send a message from your smartphone to delay it turning itself on if you get stuck at work.

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When draining the pasta, set aside some of the cooking liquid so that, if need be, some splashes can be added to stretch the sauce.

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Here flickering candles and often live klezmer set the scene for solid home cooking such as garlicky borscht (beetroot and onion soup), pierogi (filled dumplings fried in butter) and honey-roasted lamb.

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Mr. Merges makes the latter by cooking toasted groats in sugar and letting the whole mass cool and set before crushing the caramelized groats to make a crunchy garnish.

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The first course, a lush soup of cumin-roasted mushrooms, red lentils and cilantro, set the stage for the entire meal of creative, richly flavoured cooking, with a subtle use of spice.

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But learning takes time and concentration, so now we get to claim peace and quiet as we drink wine and set up our mise en place, just like the guy on that cooking show and, if you think about it, just like our own fathers, back when they tinkered in the workshop or stopped by the corner pub on the way home.

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She first sears the steak in a very hot pan, then perches it on a rack set on a baking sheet and pops it into a hot oven to finish cooking.

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There's also the intangible delight derived from cooking in a kitchen where everything is within arms' reach, or eating off the beautiful china set that was locked in a cabinet when they lived in a 1, 500-square foot home, she said.

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