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Romantic recipes: From Ellenville, with love Romantic recipes: From Aroma Thyme Bistro, with love

By Carol Montana

For the Times Herald-Record

Published: 2:00 AM - 02/08/12

After 12 years of being together, Jamie and Marcus Guiliano opened a restaurant in the town where they first fell in love.

And since New Year's Eve 2003, Aroma Thyme Bistro on Canal Street in Ellenville has been receiving rave reviews from customers and restaurant critics alike.

Chef Marcus has worked for several Mobil Five Star properties and prestigious country clubs, and is the recipient of many culinary awards, including one from the James Beard Foundation. Committed to certified organic and free-range, pasture-raised meats from small farms, the Guilianos also work closely with local produce growers, encouraging them to cultivate crops specifically for restaurants.

Loving the fact that they work side-by-side, Jamie says that one of the best things is "being together all the time and sharing the same interests. ... We are always there for each other. We balance each other out! ... Besides being together all day, we get to make a lot of other couples happy."

Here are two recipes from the Guilianos:

QUINOA AND YUKON

POTATO CAKES

Chef Marcus likes to serve this with a salad, or, for a bigger meal, with roasted vegetables.

1 pound small Yukon potatoes

1 cup quinoa (considered an aphrodisiac in some cultures)

1 cup water

1 sprig fresh thyme

½ cup mayonnaise or mayonnaise substitute; they use Veganaise (tofu based)

To taste sea salt

¼ teaspoon fennel pollen (found in gourmet stores and online)

Cook potatoes in plenty of lightly salted water until tender. Drain and hold at room temperature, then place in a large mixing bowl.

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add quinoa and thyme.

Reduce heat to low and place a cover on pot. Quinoa should take 10-12 minutes to cook.

Add quinoa to bowl with potatoes. Gently mash. When well mashed, add mayonnaise and fennel pollen. Salt to taste.

Scoop ½ cup and form into cakes.

Sear in a sauté pan on medium heat with a neutral vegetable oil. (They prefer coconut oil, but it is not neutral.)

Place in an oven set at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes to heat.

CHOCOLATE MACAROONS

6 cups unsweetened dried coconut flakes

3 cups cocoa powder

2/3 cup coconut butter/oil

2 cups maple syrup

1 tablespoon maca powder (from the root of a plant native to the high Andes of Peru and Bolivia, believed to be an aphrodisiac for men and women. It can be found in gourmet or health-food stores, online and wherever supplements and herbs are sold.)

Cream coconut flakes and coconut oil for 2 minutes with a mixer paddle.

Add and incorporate maple syrup, cocoa and maca powder.

Scoop ¼ cup portions.

Dehydrate for 3 hours at 110 degrees.

Recipe property of Marcus Guiliano, Aroma Thyme Bistro, Ellenville; www.chefonamission.com