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Your Executive Editor, Keith 'Robbie' Robinson, seen here enjoying everything at L'Escargot Restaurant in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, from the crispy French bread to the grape-laden chandeliers; especially the escargot, done in lashings of garlic butter, the way he likes them best; is well known in some circles for his own fabulous cookery. 

His seafood Bisque is, they say, "to die for" (or ' to die of ' if you happen to be allergic, but that's quite beside the point) and his dinner guests groan with pleasure at the sight of a charger weighed down with a leg of lamb; roast potatoes; peas; glazed carrots; broccoli... need we go on? 
Are you a bit of a gem in the galley? Is your partner? Tell us all about it!

Share your seafaring fare secrets with the world. The most memorable meal ever produced aboard...don't be shy, one man's meat is another's poison and if you liked it that much, someone else is more than likely to. 

Together we can compile an ever growing cookbook for sailors and lubbers alike to dip into,
In the Recipe File we'll work our way through an alphabet of culinary delights you share with us. On this page, anything and everything culinary has its place. If you've got hints and tips to share, we'll feature those too, likewise any amusing or pleasing bits and pieces.  Here are a couple of each to be going on with:

For easy crushed ice with no mess, 
place ice cubes in a reseal-able plastic bag.
Lay on chopping board with a cloth over it and pound with a heavy blunt instrument.
Open bag and decant crushed ice into your cockpit cocktail and hey - cool man!

CELERY
by Ogden Nash

Celery, raw,
develops the jaw,
but celery stewed,
is more quietly chewed

THE PARSNIP
by Ogden Nash

The parsnip, children, I repeat,
is simply an anaemic beet.
Some people call the parsnip edible;
myself, I find this claim incredible

 

Frozen green vegetables taste better, stay greener and retain their mineral and vitamin content better if you boil the water alone, with no salt, and then add the vegetables, a little at a time so that the water stays boiling hot. 
Don't cook for too long. The vegetables were usually parboiled before freezing.
Add any salt you want to at the last minute, remove immediately from the heat source, drain and serve.

GRACE BEFORE MEAT
by Maurice Healy

Bless, oh Lord, before we dine,
each dish of food, each cup of wine;
and bless our hearts, that we may be
aware of what we owe to thee.

BACK FROM THE BRINY

Overdone it with the salt, whilst cooking meat and vegetables? 
Try peeling one large potato and, without cutting it up, adding it to the cooking pot. Allow the potato to cook in the liquid which is being used to cook the other ingredients. 
When the potato is cooked, remove it from the pot and you should find that most of the extra salt has been absorbed by the potato, leaving the contents of the pot edible and possibly even wonderful.

GRACE AFTER MEAT
by Maurice Healy

With thankful hearts, oh Lord, 
we ask that we may never dine 
without remembering thee;
and grateful for our comfortable state,
may leave no Lazarus 
hungry at the gate.

Dietary Health Matters:

The discussion rages on but it's beginning to look as though some of us were right all along.
Butter,  in moderation, the scientific fraternity has now decided, is either good for you or at least less bad than the alternatives.  We knew it!
Margarine and other hydrogenated fat bearing foods are either downright bad for you or at least not in the slightest bit good for your health. How many animals or insects do you know who like the stuff ? We find it interesting how often the quasi-medical propaganda machine is used, not only to promote products which are detrimental to the health of our families but, also, to condemn nature's healthier originals.
We tend to travel with butter in cans, usually from the Netherlands. Unashamedly.