Heidi's Cornmeal Crunch

I made Heidi's (101 Cookbooks) recipe for cornmeal crunch the other night as a side/starch to I can't even remember what. We got a lot of mileage out of it as it was eaten over the next few days alongside salads, torn up into chicken soup, and just generally snacked upon. I'd planned on making it with some leftover caramelized onions (which would have made it a lot quicker to prepare), but I didn't trust that they were any good after 10 days in the fridge.
I didn't have any onions, but did have a whole slew of shallots which got used instead.
I went ahead and caramelized the shallots as I would onions in any of my other recipes. This means I added some balsamic vinegar and a little agave nectar to what would have otherwise been plain caramelized shallots. I also have a nice pot of lemon thyme, so I decided to add some to Heidi's recipe. This was a great side dish that would be made even better if I'd had some caramelized onions already in the fridge! Wouldn't hesitate to make it again, even having to make it from scratch. You might want to leave it in the oven for a bit longer than called for...just to get it a little crispier.