To make his point, he repeatedly dunked his own iPod in a glass dish of water.

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"Produces earsplitting beep when the water dish is empty!"

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Once the tomatoes melt into the dish, add the water, basmati rice and okra.

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Laura Esquivel's novel Like Water for Chocolate made the dish famous.

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But Mr. Ergen doesn't discount the role of luck, which may be why he has several bottles of feng shui water in his office and says he has "feng shui-ed" with rituals for luck all his satellite launches since Dish first sent a satellite into the sky in 1996 on a Chinese rocket that was charmed by auspicious Chinese water and chants.

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The elegance of his panna cotta with baby peas, finger lime "caviar" and crisp rice flakes was the prelude to a meal that included the best pasta dish I've ever had: maccheroncini, freshly made by the chef's mother, tossed with tomato water, morel mushrooms, sweet datterini tomatoes, fava beans and broccoli rabe.

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