Ellenville's Number 1 Trip Advisor Restaurant!

Friday, February 29, 2008

Hudson Valley Restaurant Week

We are announcing our menu Hudson Valley Restaurant Week.

All of our menu items are available gluten-free. Please let your server know so certain items can be modified.


From March 9th through 21st 2008 be sure to join us in a celebration of the culinary riches of New York's Hudson Valley, including Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, Ulster and Columbia Counties.


During the 12-day celebration, participating restaurants are serving up three-course prix-fixe lunches for $16.09 and/or three-course dinners for $26.09 Sunday through Friday. Beverages, tax and gratuity are additional. Come, enjoy the great dining experiences in the Hudson River Valley!


Hudson Valley Restaurant Week


Appetizers

Puree of Organic Sweet Potato & Yellow Curry Soup

Chopped Organic Romaine Hearts, Pears, Blue Cheese, Praline Walnuts & Tarragon Dressing

Hummus Plate
Marinated Olives, Roasted Red Peppers, Roasted Garlic, Dolmas & Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Braised Pork in Tomatillo Salsa
Pasture Raised Pork, Never given hormones or antibiotics

Entrees

Pan Seared Tilapia Filet
Kalamata Olives, Capers, White Wine, Garlic & Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Farm raised from Rain Forest Tilapia, Eco-Sensitive

Whole Wheat Orecchiette Pasta
Grilled Murray’s Chicken Sausage, Broccoli & Sundried Tomatoes
Gluten-Free Pasta available upon request

Copper Ridge Grilled Hanger Steak
Marinated in Keegan Ales Hurricane Kitty IPA
Copper Ridge Beef is raised without hormones or antibiotics

We serve Bread Alone’s Whole Wheat Miche
Gluten Free bread available upon request


DESSERTS

Poached Persimmon
Gewürztraminer, Organic Nectars Agave and Fair Trade Vanilla Bean Sauce

RAW local Apple Sorbet
Made from Stone Ridge Apples and Organic Nectars Agave

Organic Chocolate Maca-roons
Made from Organic RAW Cocoa, Local Jim Kile Maple Syrup, Organic Coconut Oil, Coconut & Maca

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Is Salt Necessary for Good Health?

I have always advocating eat good unrefined sea salt for your health. As a chef I am exposed to all kinds of salt. Kosher Salt being the most common chef salt. Chefs love this coarse uniform white salt. They like how it feels and the cleaner taste vs. table salt. But I learned many years ago the health value of unrefined, unheated natural sea salt. Salt is not salt. In fact the way our body reacts from salt can be drastically different. It is all in the way the salt is heated and they further stripped with chemicals and stabilizers. Can you imagine how sea life survives in a salt base. In fact the sea thrives on this mineral rich salt base. Some of the healthiest foods such as spirulina, chorella and other sea vegetables contain a vast array of minerals which can be found in high quality sea salt.

Dr R. Young just sent out an e-mail about the vast difference of salts. I have inserted his e-mail here for the best explanation I have seen. You can read more about Dr. Young on his website.

Since I am a Alkaline advocate, Aroma Thyme can offer many high alkaline dishes.

Here is the e-mail from Dr. Young:

Both sea salt and rock salt were well known to the ancient Greeks who noted that eating salty food affected basic body functions such as digestion and excretion (urine and stools). This led to salt being used medically. The healing methods of Hippocrates (460 BC) especially made frequent use of salt. Salt-based remedies were thought to have expectorant powers. A mixture of water and salt was employed as an emetic.

Drinking a mixture of two-thirds cow's milk and one-third salt-water, in the mornings, on an empty stomach was recommended as a cure for diseases of the spleen. A mixture of salt and honey was applied topically to clean bad ulcers and salt-water was used externally against skin diseases and freckles.

Hippocrates also mentions inhalation of steam from salt-water. We know today that the anti-inflammatory effects of inhaled salt provide relief from respiratory symptoms (c).

Thus, 2000 years ago, Greek medicine had already discovered topical use of salt for skin lesions, drinking salty or mineralized waters for digestive troubles and inhaling salt for respiratory diseases!

The doctor and alchemist Paracelsus (1493-1541 A.D.) introduced an entirely new medical concept. He believed that external factors create disease and conceived a chemically oriented medical system which contrasted with the prevalent herbal medicine. Only salted food could be digested properly: 'The human being must have salt, he cannot be without salt. Where there is no salt, nothing will remain, but everything will tend to rot.'

He recommended salt water for the treatment of wounds and for use against intestinal worms. A hip-bath in salt water was a superb remedy for skin diseases and itching: 'This brine - he said - is better than all the health spas arising out of nature.' He described the diuretic effect of salt consumption and prescribed salt preparations of different strengths that were used for instance against constipation.

'In recent years there has been much publicity about the need to reduce salt consumption in societies where salt is added to many processed foods (Denton 1984, 584-7).

It has tended to be forgotten that some salt intake is absolutely necessary; that people need salt, sodium chloride, to survive: The chemical requirements of the human body demand that the salt concentration in the blood be kept constant. If the body does not get enough salt, a hormonal mechanism compensates by reducing the excretion of salt in the urine and sweat. But it
cannot reduce this output to zero.

On a completely salt-free diet the body steadily loses small amounts of salt via the kidneys and sweat glands. It then attempts to adjust this by accelerating its secretion of water, so that the blood's salt concentration can be maintained at the vital level. The result is a gradual desiccation of the body and finally death.' Roy Moxham

An eight-year study of a New York City hypertensive population stratified for sodium intake levels found those on low-salt diets had more than four times as many heart attacks as those on normal-sodium diets - the exact opposite of what the 'salt hypothesis' would have predicted. (1995)

Dr. Jeffrey R. Cutler documented no health outcomes benefits of lower-sodium diets. Salt Institute

A past president of the American Heart Association, Dr. Suzanne Oparil of the University of Alabama- Birmingham, said her personal view is that the government may have been too quick to recommend that everyone cut back. 'Salt restriction as a solitary recommendation for the population for the prevention or the treatment of hypertension.

An abundance of the ingredients in unrefined real salt are as synonymous with life today as they were a billion years ago before single cells appeared here. Lack of them is synonymous with birth defects, organ failure, decay, diseases, premature aging and death at a young age.

The problem with salt is not the salt itself but the condition of the salt we eat - refined! Major producing companies dry their salt in huge kilns with temperatures reaching 1200 degrees F, changing he salt's chemical structure, which in turn adversely affects the human body.

The facts are that in the heating process of salt, the element sodium chloride goes off into the air as a gas. What remains is sodium hydroxate which is irritating to the system and does not satisfy the body's hunger and need for sodium chloride. Sodium and chloride are two of the 12 daily essentialminerals.

In countries which do not alter their salt supply, heart disease and arthritis are so rare that many doctors have never seen a case. Their salt is dried from the ocean by the sun. Many people believe that salt is harmful to the human body.

The truth is we cannot live without sodium or chloride- salt. From salt the body makes sodium bicarbaonate which is one of the essential compounds for alkalizing the food we eat. Also, from salt the body makes iron for producing the hemoglobin of the red blood cell.

Cl + O <=> Mn + H <=> Fe or

chloride + Oxygen = Manganese + Hydrogen = Iron.

There is not enough natural salt in our foods, so we must supplement our diet. When salt is withheld, weakness and sickness follow.

Try this experiment: Mix a spoonful of salt in a glass of water and let it stand overnight. If the salt collects on the bottom of the glass, it has been processed.

NATURAL SALT DISSOLVES! Salt that will not dissolve in water cannot dissolve in your body. Any foreign substance that collects in the body organs and tissues will eventually result in malfunctioning of essential body processes: heart disease, arthritis, hardening of the body tissues and arteries, calcium deposits in the joints, etc. Natural organic salt (saline) will not cause calcification in your body. Real sea salt can dissolve damaging calcium deposits in the body.

Science and medicine have tried to define the precise roles of salt in the healthy and diseased human organism. Blood, sweat, and tears all contain salt, and both the skin and the eyes are protected from metabolic acids from the effects of salt. When salt is added to a liquid, particles with opposite charges are formed: a positively charged sodium ion and a negatively charged chloride ion.

This is the basis of osmosis which regulates fluid pressure within living cells and protects the body against excessive water loss (as in diarrhea or on heavy sweating).

Sodium and chloride ions, as well as potassium ions, create a measurable difference in potential across cell membranes. This ensures that the fluid inside living cells remains separate from that outside. Thus, although the human body consists mainly of water, our 'inner ocean' does not flow away or evaporate. Sodium ions create a high pressure of liquid in the kidneys and thus regulate their metabolic function.

Water is extracted through the renal drainage system. The body thus loses a minimal amount of essential alkaline water. Out of 1500 liters of blood which pass daily through the kidneys, only about 1.5 liters of liquid leave the body as urine.

Salt is 'fuel' for nerves. Streams of positively and negatively charged ions send impulses to nerve fibers. A muscle cell will only contract if an impulse reaches it. Nerve impulses are partly propelled by co-ordinated changes in charged particles.

Fish from the ocean will die quickly if placed in a solution of refined salt and water. The sodium chloride, in its form as it comes from the refinery, is actually poisonous to them. Bottom line, is that yes it can be harmful to consume too much refined salt, but you cannot consume too much natural unrefined liquid real salt.

For more information on the healthful benefits of real mineral sea salt go to:

http://www.phmiracleliving.com/phlavor.htm
http://www.phmiracleliving.com/pHourSalts.htm

In conclusion the question, "does salt cause high blood pressure?" The answer is absolutely NOT! High blood pressure is caused by dietary and metabolic acids that are not being properly eliminated through urination, defecation,
perspiration and respiration. The truth is, you do not get high blood pressure you do high blood pressure with your lifestyle and dietary choices. Sodium chloride is the key to reducing and normalizing blood pressure and maintaining
healthy pulse rate below 70 beats a minute.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Asian menu offerings still growing

Just in from my favorite restaurant magazine:

Feb. 11, 2008) Asian-inspired chains are tapping appetites that have propelled that continent’s cuisines into the American consumer mainstream, though some prominent brands have shrunk in size recently or curtailed growth plans.

Nonetheless, Asian menu offerings grew at a 17-percent clip industrywide from January 2006 to October 2007, according to research by Mintel Menu Insights of Chicago. Among fast-casual restaurants alone, Asian offerings increased 6 percent for that period, Mintel director Maria Caranfa said.

Reasons for that increase, Caranfa said, include public perceptions that Asian foods are healthy, fresh and a good value with large portions. She added that most of the flavors are familiar, and young adults see Asian food as trendy.

Marcus Guiliano's comments:

We are seeing the same trend or growth. We see it in all Asian food such as Thai, Japanese including Sashimi and over to Indian Cuisine. No longer is Asian food just bad Chinese food.

Asian food tends to be a bit healthier if it is fresh and not fried. Frying any food will totally destroy its health benefits. In fact frying will turn your food rancid, which is bad for your health. So it is impossible to have healthy fried food.

Health is found in fresh vegetables, fresh fish and wonderful fruits. Of course we want to eat raw fruits and veggies. You can really experiment when it comes to Asian fruits. Try some Durian fruit or Goji Berries. Now here is were the health is found.

Aroma Thyme will still look for new Asian influences on the menu.

Gluten-Free Hudson Valley Restaurant Week 2008, Hudson Valley Restaurant Week

Aroma Thyme Bistro to Offer Gluten-Free Hudson Valley Restaurant Week Menu!

Since we specialize in gluten-free food, you guessed it, we will have a gluten-free Hudson Valley Restaurant Week Three Course Menu. Gluten is the protein found in wheat, barley, rye and spelt. Individuals with Celiac Disease cannot eat any items with this protein. Since many convenience items have wheat, such as soy sauce, it makes eating difficult. And eating out at restaurants even more challenging. When you think about it, bread, flour coatings, tempura, dessert, pizza and so on have gluten. In fact most kitchens are infected with gluten products and by-products.

Aroma Thyme Bistro has devoted 90% of their menu to gluten-free items. Chef Marcus Guiliano uses wheat free tamari (soy sauce), rice pizza crusts among many other items to create this gluten-free menu. In fact he even makes a gluten free brownie that makes everyone happy.

Look at Aroma Thyme Bistro’s website for a current menu.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Hudson Valley Restaurant Week and Aroma Thyme Bistro

From March 9th through 21st 2008 be sure to join us in a celebration of the culinary riches of New York's Hudson Valley, including Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, Ulster and Columbia Counties.


During the 12-day celebration, participating restaurants are serving up three-course prix-fixe lunches for $16.09 and/or three-course dinners for $26.09 Sunday through Friday. Beverages, tax and gratuity are additional. Come, enjoy the great dining experiences in the Hudson River Valley!

We are very excited to be part of this year Hudson VAlley Restaurant Week. You can view our menu from our website.

You can also get a special Aroma Thyme Offer at Hudson Valley Eating Out .

Aroma Thyme Bistro
165 Canal St
Ellenville, NY
845-647-3000

Burgundy Wine Dinner at Aroma Thyme Bistro

Burgundy and wine, a match made a thousand years ago.


Burgundy-- the name has taken on the proportions of myth. This is the region where the modern wine world began. It’s also the home of a cuisine notable for
hearty winter meals.

Say Chardonnay, say Pinot Noir, and you are talking Burgundy, because that’s where those two varietals began their march across the world.
Indeed, go back 40 years or so and the only Chardonnay you were likely to find in a wine store would have come from Burgundy. Certainly, the only Pinot Noir in the
shop would have had to have come from Burgundy’s Cote D’Or, the fabulous slope of gold, along which are scattered the famous villages and vineyards-- such as Gevry Chambertin, whose wines have inspired winemakers the world over.

On Friday, February 29th, Aroma Thyme Bistro, in Ellenville, will celebrate
Burgundy and Burgundian cuisine with a special wine dinner, matching Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from both Burgundy and elsewhere to a menu of traditional Burgundian food.

The Five course menu paired with seven wines is $85 per person. This event is paired with wines selected by Sommelier Chris Rowley and food paired by Chef Marcus Guiliano. Seating is limited to 12. Call 647-3000 early to reserve your space. More info can be found at www.AromaThymeBistro.com.

NY State Beer Dinner

Ommegang Beer Dinner at Aroma Thyme Bistro
February 22nd, 2008
165 Canal Street
Ellenville, NY 12428
(845)-647-1154
www.aromathymebistro.com

Ommegang Witte
Asparagus & Farmhouse Cheddar Rarebit

Ommegang Hennepin
Herb Crusted Alaskan Sockeye Salmon
Micro-Green Salad

Ommegang Rare Vos
Murray’s Chicken Sausage
Mushroom Ragout

Ommegang Abbey Ale
Grilled Organic Hanger Steak
Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ommegang Three Philosophers
Chambord infused Agave Nectar, Fresh Raspberries

$49 per person
Includes an Ommegang Glass

Brewery Ommegang


The brewery was founded in 1997 by Don Feinberg, and is located in Cooperstown, New York. The brewery makes five Belgian style beers year-round and has just added two more seasonal beers this past year for their tenth anniversary. The five ales brewed full-time by Ommegang include: the signature Ommegang Abbey Ale; Hennepin Farmhouse Saison; Rare Vos Amber Ale ; Ommegang Witte Ale; and Three Philosophers. In the ten short years that Brewery Ommegang has existed, they have won numerous medals, and have become famous for their
high quality beers.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Benefits of Wheatgrass Juice

We have served wheatgrass juice since we opened in 2003. I have personally drank this green nutrient rich nectar since 1999. I know the stuff is great for you, in fact one of the best superfoods I know. I just came across an e-mail from Steve Meyerowitz, the Sproutman. He has a new book out. In fact he even has some info on canine health and wheatgrass.

Dogs Prove Wheatgrass Works

Hello


There are many stories of people who have extended their lives with cancer and other diseases or turned their health around with the help of wheatgrass therapy. (If you are unfamiliar with wheatgrass therapy, read: Grass - The Medicine Beneath our Feet)

In my book Wheatgrass Nature’s Finest Medicine, I share with you many of those stories. They are told in the first person by the patients themselves. Among those stories are some about sick dogs. If you’ve read my book, you know that I believe wheatgrass is one of the most potent natural medicines in the herbal pharmacopeia. But while others extol the virtues of wheatgrass, I have always eschewed the hyperbole associated with it as a panacea. But when it comes to dogs, there can be no hyperbole. Dogs don’t exaggerate. They don’t subscribe to faith healing, and they don’t respond to the placebo effect.

What follows is an extract from Wheatgrass Nature’s Finest Medicine in which a longtime breeder tells his story about sick dogs and his use of wheatgrass. This is not just about one dog, but about dozens of sick dogs over many years. Not only did the grass change the lives of the dogs, but the breeder and his family were so impressed, they started growing wheatgrass on a larger scale to provide it to their human friends. (You can click here to order their wheatgrass.)


Read more of this fascinating story. . .

Dogs Don't Lie


Steve Meyerowitz

Rare Japanese Beef


In 1994 due to a loophole in the trade Act of 1992 between the United States and Japan, a small nucleus of Akaushi cows and bulls were brought to the United States in a specially equipped Boeing 747. Today, Akaushi genetics are controlled by a group of Texans under the name HeartBrand Beef, Inc.

Akaushi cattle, a Bos Taurus type of cattle had their origin and evolution in Kumamoto, Japan. Kumamoto is located in the middle of Kyushu island at a latitude of 32 degrees, 48 minutes North and 130 degrees, 42 minutes East, in the northwest part of the Kumamoto Prefecture.
Cattle breeds are divided into two kinds in Japan. The first is dairy cattle, including mainly Holsteins, grade Holsteins and Jerseys. The second type of cattle are nearly all called Wagyu. The word Wagyu refers to all Japanese cattle by its direct translation of its two grammatical parts, "wa" and "gyu" meaning Japanese and cattle, respectively. The Wagyu cattle are the Japanese indigenous breeds, which have been subjected to genetic improvement over the last 90 years. Today, there are four breeds of Wagyu cattle, the Akaushi (Japanese Red), the Kryoshi (Japanese Black), the Japanese Polled, and the Japanese Shorthorn. It is estimated at the present time that a population of 58, 263 breeding age females represents the Akaushi breed.

Fifty years ago the Japan Association of Akaushi registration was created in order to collect, manage and process all Akaushi data. The Association has collected carcass performance, breeding pedigrees and economic data for every animal on the entire breed. These data have been use by master geneticists and scientists in the selection of every Akaushi dam and sire over the last half-century. At the same time, the Kumamoto Prefecture Agricultural Research Center has used these data to select prospective sire and dam lines to be utilized for further genetic improvement. Consequently, new sire and dam lines are only released for general production after they have been proven meritorious by extensive and accurate statistical analysis, using a sophisticated progeny-testing model.

As a result of this unique data processing closed system, the Akaushi breed is extremely uniform and consistent throughout the genetic lines for all carcass and palatability traits. Today, the uniformity of Akaushi carcass performance characteristics is superior to all Western beef cattle breeds.


HeartBrand Beef, Inc., is presently producing natural Akaushi meat under rigorous quality guidelines and certified product testing in a source verified vertically integrated production system. Our, program is designed to provide consumers the healthiest and highest quality natural Akaushi beef.

Comments from Marcus Guiliano, Aroma Thyme Bistro.

We are very pleased to offer this rare Akaushi Beef. It is is very rare to find a true gem in the beef world. "This is exactly what we found in HeartBrand Beef", claims Marcus Guiliano. The blind taste test was the real proof. We tried this Akaushi against other so-called Kobe style producers and organic producers. The Akaushi had no competition.

Since the supply is still very low, we will offer this prized beef as much as possible.

Monday, February 18, 2008

The Jacks of the FIsh, Hudson Valley Restaurant Week

We all get a bit confused about Hamachi, Kampachi, Yellowtail & Hiramasa. We associate these fish with sashimi. When a customer at Aroma Thyme does not know the name, I say Yellowtail. Then the "oh I know" usually comes flying out of their mouth. So the following is the rundown on Jacks' from Seafoods.com, a great source for seafood for restaurants.

Marcus

JACK, JACK, JACK AND MORE JACK

Hamachi, Kampachi, Yellowtail, Hiramasa!! What’s the difference? To start, the highest
quality, fattiest, most desirable of the jacks is the Hamachi. This fish is the Yellowtail Jack, only
it is farm raised in Japan. The Japanese farming technique consists of a fatty diet and very strict
guidelines to ensure complete control and consistency of their product. The Hamachi, with its
very high level of fat, is known as one of the best sashimi quality fish in the market today. These
fish average 8-12 pounds whole and have a very buttery fatty flavor much desired for any
sashimi application.
That being said, the Kampachi is also farm raised. These fish are farmed in Hawaii and
unlike the Hamachi; the Hawaiians grow these fish much smaller, averaging 4-6 pounds whole.
This yields a much cleaner, almost cucumber taste making it another true crowd pleaser for
anyone who wants a very high-end sashimi product. Both of these fish, because of their farming
procedures, result in a better end product than the wild caught jacks. Although designed to stay
raw, because of the firmness in the flesh, these fish would also be great pan seared or even
grilled.
Now lets move on to the Pacific Yellowtail Jack. This fish is a wild caught, cold water run,
fish. Although it is not as desired in the Japanese market as the Hamachi, it is one of the best
value sashimi quality fish in the world. These fish are firm, sweet, and extremely clean to the
taste. SeafoodS.com purchases these fish from wild caught, ocean runs in the Pacific. If
cooking is desired, the Yellowtail will also stand high heat. Cooking methods mirror those of
most oily fish; the longer it is cooked, the stronger the flavor will be.
Last but not least is the Hiramasa. Farmed in Australia, this is no more than a fat
yellowtail. Similar to the Hamachi, these fish are sweet, firm and farmed in a cold water
environment. The reason it comes in last in the descriptions is because of its weak availability in
the daily market. The US market can go many months without seeing any of these fish landed.
Sure to pull a smile from the most discerning chefs, SeafoodS.com highly recommends
any of these fish options. From raw to cooked, these fish are a true crowd pleaser. So don’t
waste anytime, place your order today!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget Hudson Valley Restaurant Week in March.
The Valley Table presents . . .


From March 9th through 21st 2008 be sure to join us in a celebration of the culinary riches of New York's Hudson Valley, including Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, Ulster and Columbia Counties.


During the 12-day celebration, participating restaurants are serving up three-course prix-fixe lunches for $16.09 and/or three-course dinners for $26.09 Sunday through Friday. Beverages, tax and gratuity are additional. Come, enjoy the great dining experiences in the Hudson River Valley!
We would never expect you to eat this shrimp, nor do we serve farmed Asian shrimp

One Awesome Blender