Which Way the Wind Blows
by Brooks MacDonald

  Wonders of the season...
  Wondering whether we'd be open for business as usual this winter in Perkins Cove or whether we'd be closed for some major renovations.
  Wondering what our fall and winter schedule would be in Dock Square.
  Wondering when Christmas Prelude weekend is taking place.
  Wondering what the dates for our Wine Dinners would be.
  Wondering when the new Hurricane web site would finally be launched.

We sure have had a lot of irons in the fire recently. Let me fill you in on all the news, before even I start to believe some of the rumors circulating recently. First, in Ogunquit, we have been working for some time with the owners of our building to completely renovate our restaurant. Our plans were to make the restaurant handicap accessible, more energy efficient, quieter for both our patrons and neighbors and, in general, more esthetically pleasing. To keep a long story short, after months of meetings, meetings and more meetings, and months of drawings, drawings, and more drawings, the town still hasn't seen enough of our plans. So, with time no longer on our side for a renovation this coming year, it's an easy decision to remain open again this winter. While we're disappointed that we won't have a newly renovated restaurant to open in the spring, we're very confident that we will have one in the not too distant future. Well, at Hurricane we've always lived by the slogan, "When life deals you lemons, make lemon-raspberry sorbet with fresh mint" and that's exactly what we plan to do. So, once again, you can count on Hurricane in Perkins Cove to be a bright, warm spot for the finest dining on the Coast O' Maine, all winter long.

In Kennebunkport our plans were all hinging on what happened with our Ogunquit restaurant. Now that we know Ogunquit will remain open, we can state our winter plans for Dock Square: We will be open for lunch and dinner, seven days a week, until December 14th in Dock Square. Then we'll close and let Bob Meserve and our other contractors work their magic. We'll reopen for the season on or around February 12, 2003.

Also in this issue of The Eye of the Hurricane, you'll find a blurb on our new web site that's almost ready to launch. We'll introduce you to the Hurricane Catering Company Dena Boston and Adam White are heading up for us. (We're excited about making our Dock Square restaurant available to large parties and private functions. It's something we've always wanted to do but were never able to in Perkins Cove - mostly because the limited size of our kitchen there.)

Elsewhere, you'll find a fall recipe from the Hurricane kitchen: a Brined, Double-Thick Pork Chop with a Warm Sweet Potato and Cranberry Relish. There's an informative article from Paul on wine I'm sure you'll all find of interest. Lu will reveal what's new and exciting at Provisions for the holiday shopping season. Our holiday schedule of events is also posted for your convenience. Until the next time, I leave you with this thought: Enjoy yourself. These are the "good old days" you're going to miss in the years ahead if you're not careful.

Santa's Little Helpers Have a Sleigh-Load of Gift Ideas at Provisions!
by Luanne MacDonald

Our little shop next to our Perkins Cove restaurant might be small, but we have stocked a huge selection for the holiday shopping season. Among our new must-have gifts are Hurricane logo boat bags and golf towels, as well as new styles of both our T-shirts and sweatshirts. Plus, you'll love our brand-spankin' new kitchen aprons with our red, white and blue Hurricane logo. No kitchen magician should be without one... or two.

I've also ordered the B.R. Cohn olive oil! This wonderful dipping oil was wicked popular until a bottling problem in California made it impossible to get last spring. Now it's back, and it makes a super tasty gift. (Make sure to remember an extra for yourself.) If that delicious oil doesn't get your taste buds watering, I'm sure our new wasabi-coated peanuts will give your tongue a little tingle. They'll really spice up any holiday entertaining you have planned.

Gift giving is simple and elegant with our now-famous holiday gift baskets. They come in many sizes and prices and generously sample from the wide variety of Hurricane flavors. Please call us as early as possible with your gift-basket orders so we can have them shipped in time for the holidays.

Well, I'm off to stock the shelves in both our Dock Square outlet and the Provisions shop in Perkins Cove with these and other great food and wine treats for your shopping and giving fun. So, finally, from all of us at Provisions - a happy holiday wish to one and all. May 2003 be everything you hope it will be. Cheers!

Hurricane Catering Debuts - or - My Place or Yours?
by Dena Boston

Has your daughter's plans to tie the knot got your stomach all in knots? RELAX! Is the dinner reception or business luncheon your boss put on your plate getting a bit too hot to handle? COOL IT!

Is your family gathering from the far reaches of the universe, and the task of planning the event is too earth-shattering for words? PUT YOUR FEET UP!

I am not promoting massage therapy but, perhaps, food therapy. My name is Dena Boston, and I've been entrusted with the exciting job of making your catering desires, whims and wishes come true. And I'll take care of all your other special event worries, too.

Not only does Hurricane have two wonderful locations on the Maine coast for your get-togethers, but I can also tempt Chef out of the kitchen and over to your place, if that's what it takes.

I'd love to get busy planning your next business gathering, rehearsal dinner, holiday party, anniversary, birthday party... any special occasion where only the finest cuisine and service will do. We'll do it here, we'll do it there, we'll do it anywhere!

Think Dena at Hurricane. You can reach me by phone at 207-646-6348 or via email at hurricane@perkinscove.com. Here at Hurricane Catering we say: "The Dena is in the details!"

New Hurricane Web Site Coming Soon... Really Soon... Honest

After months of intensive work by our advertising and marketing elves, and after equally intensive efforts by our expert web designing munchkins, our newly designed web site is coming soon at www.hurricanerestaurant.com. The site will carry the latest news about special events at Hurricane, as well as daily lunch and dinner menus from both our Ogunquit and Kennebunkport restaurants. There will be exclusive recipes, our wine list, an archive of past newsletters, a listing of career opportunities, Southern Maine area links and a lot more. Stop by our new web site from time to time to see if it's up and running. We're sure it's going to be worth the wait!

Fall Back on Our (Anything, But) Standard Time This Winter

We're here at these times and hope you'll be, too!

• Lunch is served Monday through Saturday, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
  
• Dinner is served Monday through Thursday, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; and until 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
  
• Our bar menu is available from open to close.
  
• Sunday Brunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and our full dinner menu is served all day Sunday, from 11:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.
  
• Monday night is Chef's Night. Every Monday evening we feature a complimentary (that's right, free!) chef-designed appetizer and dessert with the purchase of each entrée.
  
• Public Suppers (Ogunquit only). Often copied but never duplicated, Hurricane Public Suppers begin on November 12th and run through April 15th, tax day. Three entrées are offered for $7 (that's right, $7!) each Tuesday night from our Public Supper menu, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
  
• Complimentary happy-hour buffet is served Monday to Friday, beginning at 4 p.m.
  
• Our Perkins Cove Wine Dinner Series dates are as follows:
  January 16th & 30th, February 13th & 27th, March 13th & 27th and April 10th.
  
• Our 2002 Dock Square Wine Dinner Series concludes on November 12th with Jed Steele. We'll kick off our 2003 Series in the late spring. Please call us after the snow melts for the dates of these extraordinary wine dinners.

Are Those Babies For Real?
by Paul Brick

We've been able to collect a number of large bottles of wine to make available to parties of eight or more. You may have seen many of them in Perkins Cove, and we are actively expanding our collection in Dock Square. So, how big are those babies? Here's a handy little size chart of wine bottles:

• Half Bottle = 375 ml
• Full (Standard) Bottle = 750 ml
• Magnum = 1,500 ml or two 750 ml bottles
• Mari-Jean = 2,250 ml or three 750 ml bottles
• Jeroboam (Burgundy/Champagne) = 3,000 ml or four 750 ml bottles
• Jeroboam (Bordeaux/Cabernet) = 4,500 ml or six 750 ml bottles
• Rehoboam (Burgundy/Champagne) = 4,500 ml or six 750 ml bottles
• Imperial (Bordeaux/Cabernet) = 6,000 ml or eight 750 ml bottles
• Methuselah (Burgundy/Champagne) = 6,000 ml or eight 750 ml bottles
• Salmanazar = 9,000 ml or twelve 750 ml bottles
• Balthazar = 12,000 ml or sixteen 750 ml bottles
• Nebuchadnezzar = 15,000 ml or twenty 750 ml bottles (Yeow!)

Most of the bottles we collect are Jeroboams. (We've opened and consumed larger ones, but no one seems to remember much about the experience!)

Brined, Double-Cut Pork Chops with a Warm Sweet Potato & Cranberry Relish (Serves four)

NOTE: This recipe calls for four or five days advance preparation.

Four pork-rib chops (Have your butcher cut two ribs per chop, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick.)

For the brine:

• 1/2 gallon water
• 1/2 gallon ice cubes
• 1 tablespoon, herbes de Provence
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup salt
• 1/2 tablespoon mustard seed
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon juniper berries

1) Combine all ingredients (except ice cubes) and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
2) Remove from heat, add 1/2 gallon of ice cubes and allow to cool completely.
3) Place chops in suitable container and cover with brine. Allow to stand in refrigerator for 48 to 72 hours.
4) Grill chops over hot fire just long enough to mark on both sides.
5) Place chops on sheet pan and roast at 225 degrees, until they register 160 degrees on a meat thermometer (approximately 30 minutes).

For the relish:

• 1/2 pound apple-cured bacon, cut into one-inch cubes
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 medium red onion, sliced julienne
• 1/2 cup cranberry juice
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1) Render bacon in a large sauté pan, reserving fat and bacon separately.
2) Toss potatoes with salt, pepper and reserved bacon fat.
3) Roast in 400-degree oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until soft and slightly browned.
4) Combine onions, cranberry juice, vinegar, sugar, dried cranberries and cinnamon in pot and simmer until liquid is a syrup-like consistency.
5) Pour syrup and bacon over potatoes and toss to coat.

Presentation:

Place warm potato relish in the center of plate and top with pork chop. Drizzle remaining syrup over chops.

Wine suggestion: Steele Catfish Vineyards Zinfandel

Important Holly-Dates in the Port and the Cove

Kennebunkport's Christmas Prelude starts the weekend after Thanksgiving (December 6th , 7th and 8th). Ogunquit's Christmas by the Sea is the following weekend (December 13th , 14th & 15th). Come join us for these very festive annual events. We fill up quickly this time of year, so please make sure to call us for a reservation. As to your own holiday event at Hurricane, we've already booked more holiday parties this year than we served all of last year - and it's still a ways to go until the season. Call Dena Boston soon if your group would like Hurricane to be involved in your holiday plans. She can be reached at 207-646-6348.

And speaking of holiday plans, you've always told us we throw one heck of a party, and here comes another one: We'll be hosting our annual Holiday Open House in Perkins Cove on Sunday, December 15th, starting at 6 p.m. This is your official invitation to this yearly madness. Please note the date and join us.

We'll be wrapping up an incredible second year in Kennebunkport on December 14th, after dinner. It will only be a short break before we reopen for our third season on (or around) February 12, 2003. So that our staff and their families can enjoy their holidays together, we will be closing in Ogunquit on both December 24th and 25th this year and reopening for lunch on the 26th at 11:30 a.m. Stop by and show us all your new duds. It's one of the busiest weeks in the winter, and we look forward to seeing lots of friends from away.

Again this year, we will be serving a gala New Year's Eve dinner from 5:30 p.m. until 2003 on Tuesday, December 31st. We'll follow that up with the best-way-ever to start the New Year: brunch at Hurricane on New Year's Day with Bloody Marys, Mimosas and the whole package. And, finally, we will be closing in Perkins Cove for our annual paint, polish, purge and powder from January 2nd until January 17th. After all, we all like to look good when company's coming! And please remember - even though it's now the other season - please call ahead for reservations so we don't disappoint.