Foodie Friday: Shorebreak Lodge
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – At Shorebreak Lodge in Rehoboth Beach, the food really speaks for itself. With a talented young chef at the helm, this spot delivers unique offerings.
Doing Up The Duck
Executive Chef Michael Murty prides his work on punches of flavor that you won’t find everywhere. The seared duck breast is a great example of that mastery of what makes food mouthwatering.
Chef Murty starts by putting potatoes in a sautee pan. “I try to put them face down, so they get that nice color on the face of them,” he explained.
On another burner, green beans are simmering away. Meanwhile, Chef Murty scores and seasons the duck with salt, pepper, and harissa.
“Harissa is an African spice. It’s got a little bit of everything in it,” said Chef Murty of the deep red spice. Then, comes the protein. “You want to start it with a nice hot pan, and then get that initial sear, then turn it down to get that nice crust on the duck.”
The duck is thrust into the oven to finish off. “While that’s in there, we can start doing our scallop app,” Chef Murty said.
Super Scallops
“A little bit of light salt, same thing with the harissa,” Chef Murty explained. “This actually gets made with our house-made bacon. We cure our own bacon in house, smoke it in house.”
As soon as that bacon is crispy, Chef Murty throws in a handful of butternut squash and greens. This combination is added to the oven for completion. Now, it’s the scallops’ turn to sizzle to a perfect golden-brown on the surface.
The dish is served over a smear of beet puree, and a bed of that squash and those greens. It’s finished off with savory-sweet miso honey.
“These scallops are beautiful. They’re silky on the inside, and they have a perfect sear on the outside,” Foodie Friday Host Hannah Cechini remarked. “The smokiness and the fattiness on top of the sweetness of the butternut squash, plus the crunch of the kohlrabi, it’s just really wonderful all around.”
Lovely and Light
Staying under the sea and above the clouds in bliss, we’re also trying grilled octopus. This dish is served over a bed of kohlrabi garbanzo slaw, and dressed up with a drizzle of harissa aioli.
“The flavor is great, and I think it’s just amped up by this harissa aioli that’s been drizzled on top of it,” Hannah said. “The kohlrabi slaw is excellent.”
Foodie Photog Mike is waking up his pallet in a different way: Brie and naan, dotted with pepita, dried fruit, peppers, and lovingly layered with shaved parmesan-reggiano, pepita pesto, and a balsamic reduction drizzle. Of all the ingredients, Mike said the pesto was really special.
“Really intense umami bomb”
The duck and its acoutrements, meanwhile, have found their resting place overtop of a butternut squash puree, before being drizzled with a blueberry demi-glace.
“That is a surprisingly good skin, given that all it’s really done is cook under the strength of its own fats,” said Mike.
The blueberry demi-glace is something that Mike won’t soon forget either. It all comes together, with the super sides, to create a showstopping dish.
“That’s a really intense umami bomb, but it’s got that playful sweetness because they’ve cooked down and developed those blueberries,” Mike said with satisfaction. “The butternut just comes in with this beautifully, as its name would suggest, buttery wave… Fingerlings have always been kind of a favorite of mine… And, when you add it to such a great puree, it’s just very pleasant. And, getting a little bit of that demi in there just adds a lot of richness. That’s a really lovely combination.”
Shorebreak Lodge
Shorebreakd Lodge is located at 10 Wilmington Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, Del. You can call them at 302-227-1007. If you go to check it out, tell the team that you saw them on Foodie Friday.
