Seafood and entertaining go hand-in-hand for Shannon Morgan of Shannon’s Coastal Kitchen
Like many Southern women, Shannon Morgan’s love for cooking and entertaining began with her mother, Judy. Growing up, she watched her mother effortlessly host fabulous dinner parties, spending days planning, preparing, cooking and more. But what Morgan remembers most isn’t the incredible dishes her mother made, but the way she brought people together, showing her love through cooking great food. And over the years, Morgan began doing the same thing in her home.
“That love of cooking took on an entirely new dimension when my husband and I began spending much of our free time at our fishing camp in south Louisiana with some of our lifelong friends,” Morgan says. “That’s where I really fell in love with the idea of coast-to-table cooking.”
With her husband by her side, the couple began experimenting with new recipes, finding different ways to prepare their fresh catch. Making seafood dishes that generations of women in her family had cooked before her, adapting recipes from old cookbooks and even creating some of her own, her passion began to flourish, and she began sharing her coastal cuisine on social media, now using the name Shannon’s Coastal Kitchen.
When friends started asking for recipes, Morgan realized these dishes didn’t have to stay in her own kitchen. “For years, my friends and my daughters’ friends had asked me to teach them how to cook,” she says. “After retiring as a speech language pathologist for 32 years,
I finally had the time to say, ‘Why not?’”
In August 2026, Morgan hosted her first cooking class for a group of her oldest daughters’ friends, which they all agreed was a huge success. “Many of them are now married, engaged or beginning families of their own, and there was something incredibly special about teaching this generation how to make the kinds of meals that have been served around our family table for decades,” she says.
With plans to continue hosting these local cooking classes, Morgan is also working toward publishing a collection of recipes she has gathered, inherited, adapted and created over the years, highlighting the Louisiana coastal cooking she has been perfecting.
She says that in many ways, this new venture feels like a continuation of what she watched her mother do all those years ago – bringing people together through food. “I’m just taking it from her kitchen to mine, and now hopefully into other people’s homes,” Morgan adds.
“Ultimately, SCK isn’t just about teaching someone how to cook a piece of fish,” she says. “It’s about preserving recipes, supporting our Louisiana coast and local seafood community, passing traditions from one generation to the next, and giving people another reason to gather around the table.”
Keep up with Morgan by following her Instagram page, @shannonscoastalkitchen, and keep scrolling to find three of her recipes.
Oysters Bienville
2 cartons oysters
1 stick butter
2 bunches green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp. parsley
1 carton mushrooms, finely chopped
2 cups shrimp or chicken stock
3⁄4 cup white wine
8 Tbsp.flour
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 lb. shrimp, boiled and chopped
Creole seasoning
Seasoned breadcrumbs
Parmesan, grated
Rock salt
Blend flour and butter in a saucepan. Add green onions and cook until wilted. Add stock, mushrooms, parsley and wine. Cook over low heat until thickened. Add shrimp and season to taste. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly. Add beaten egg yolks slowly to mixture. (Bienville sauce may be refrigerated at this point for several hours to overnight before serving.)
Arrange oyster shells on a tray of rock salt. Spray shells with cooking spray. Place an oyster on each shell. Spoon Bienville sauce over each oyster and top generously with breadcrumbs and parmesan. Bake at 400 degrees until bubbly and brown on top (about 20 minutes).
Makes about 4 dozen.
Remoulade Dressing
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup tarragon vinegar
4 Tbsp Creole mustard
4 Tbsp horseradish
2 Tbsp ketchup
½ cup celery
½ cup green onions
2 tsp Creole seasoning
2 tsp paprika
1 cup olive oil
Put all ingredients except olive oil in a blender and blend. While blending, add olive oil slowly. Makes about 2 cups of dressing.
Trout Meuniere
Trout filets
2 cups milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp Tabasco
1-2 cups fish fry
1-2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 stick butter + 2 Tbsp
1 onion chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tsp garlic
1 pound crawfish tails
2 Tbsp dark roux
½ cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp Worcestershire
1 lemon
Slap ya mama seasoning
Parsley
Oil
Soak trout filets in milk, egg and Tabasco. Dredge filets in equal parts Panko and fish fry. Season with slap ya mama.
Melt 1 stick butter and sauté onions and garlic. Add roux and gradually add chicken stock, stirring to dissolve roux. In a separate skillet, sauté crawfish tails in 2 Tbsp butter seasoned with slap ya mama. Sauté about 10 minutes. Add crawfish to roux mixture with a slotted spoon. Add lemon juice, Worcestershire and parsley and cook for about 5 more minutes. Keep warm.
Pan fry trout filets in a cast iron skillet in oil until crispy. Serve over mashed potatoes or creamy grits and top with Meuniere.
