Cook the Book: Salt & Shore

Growing up on the North Carolina coast, I was raised on blue crabs and hushpuppies. To this day, I love seafood and Southern eats above all other cuisine, and I couldn’t wait to read a cookbook that feels the same. Salt & Shore: Recipes from the Coastal South, written by chef and mixologist duo Sammy Monsour and Kassady Wiggins, features more than 120 recipes inspired by the food, drinks, and culture of coastal towns in the South.

The pages celebrate foodways and waterways from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, spotlighting people and businesses promoting ocean health and responsible seafood sourcing. This includes Sunburst Trout Farms, a small, family-run farm that raises trout sustainably in the Shining Rock Wilderness of North Carolina. All Clams On Desk is also featured, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring clam and seagrass sites on the Gulf Coast.

Flipping my way through the book, I decided to make the Lowcountry cast-iron cornbread and Louisiana crawfish roll. Both looked delicious and quintessentially Southern, with plenty of butter and Duke’s mayo. The most interesting ingredient I picked up was crawfish tail meat, which was unusual enough to determine where I bought the groceries (Walmart, by the way) and I was eager to get home and try my hand at the recipe. 

Recipes reprinted and adapted with permission from Salt & Shore: Recipes from the Coastal South. Copyright © 2024 Weldon Owen, Photography Ziv Sade & Sammy Monsour.

Selected Recipes from Salt & Shore

Lowcountry Cast-Iron Cornbread

I made a huge mess while baking the cornbread—by the end there was flour on every surface, including me—but I had a lot of fun making it. After whisking the batter mixture, the crust step is key—just one minute on the stovetop (be sure to time it) forms a crisp layer on the bottom of the cornbread. Have a toothpick handy to check the doneness, and add time if you need it; I ended up adding five minutes. My kitchen smelled like a bakery and it was really hard to wait the half hour before trying a slice. It came out perfectly buttery and crispy and was almost like dessert. I think I’ll hang onto this recipe to pair with some collard greens and ribs.

Louisiana Crawfish Roll

You can’t find crawfish everywhere, and when you do, it’s often sold as frozen, fully cooked tail meat. I was surprised at how vibrant the orange-red meat was, even frozen. I set to work making the crawfish salad. There was liquid in the crawfish package after defrosting; I recommend draining so the salad doesn’t get soupy. I refrigerated it overnight so it would be thoroughly chilled. The following day at lunch, I melted some butter, toasted the rolls, and loaded them up with shredded lettuce and crawfish salad, with a sprinkle of Cajun seasoning. That first bite of warm roll and chilly crawfish was amazing.

Get these recipes and more in Salt & Shore

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