Chesapeake Bay Fried Green Tomatoes with Garlic Shrimp

One of the things I always enjoyed when working or traveling around Baltimore were the multitude of great small restaurants, each with their own twist on what I’d call “down home food” (as Mamaw Johnson used to say)- great meals based on simple ingredients. My favorite stop, “Miss Shirley’s Place” has the best fried green tomatoes around and are the inspiration for this dish.

Ingredients
2 medium green tomatoes in ¼ inch slices
1 lb #16-20 shrimp peeled and deveined
½ cup corn meal
½ cup AP flour
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
2 cups jasmine rice (cooked)
Corn off 2 grilled cobs
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 large shallot sliced
1-2 eggs
¼ cup marsala wine
2 tbsp homemade mayonnaise
¼ tsp cardamom
2 tbsp butter
½ tsp salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2-3 tsp lemon juice
Peanut oil
Parsley or cilantro (optional)

Place the flour in a medium bowl, then combine the corn meal, Old Bay, salt, and pepper on a flat plate and set aside. Beat the egg (s) in another medium bowl. Dip each slice of tomato first in the flour, then in the eggs, then in the cornmeal mixture, and set on a rack. Combine the mayonnaise, cardamom, and lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat two tbsp peanut oil in a deep pan, add the shallots and corn, cook until the shallots shine. Next add the marsala wine and cook off, then add the rice and mix. Turn off the heat. Any other vegetables can be added if desired.
In a cast iron pan heat about ¼ inch of peanut oil to 370 °F, then cook the tomatoes in batches, turning several times until browned all over, remove to a rack.
Drain the oil from the pan (or use another one) and add two tablespoons of butter and heat to 350 °F, then add the shrimp and allow to cook for three minutes on the first side, add the garlic, flip, and another two minutes on the other side.
Place the tomatoes on the plates, then the rice, and spoon the garlic shrimp over top of the rice. Drizzle on the lemon cardamom mayo, and garnish with parsley or cilantro.