Product: Southern Homestyle Corn Flake Crumbs – $4.99+
What normally comes up missing from a gluten-free lifestyle is anything that is…in a word…breaded. And that can be hard to work around at times. But thanks to some companies coming out with gluten-free crumbs packaged and ready for your “breading” needs, it does get a little better.
Prior to picking up a canister of Southern Homestyle Corn Flake Crumbs, I had only previously been exposed to the Glutino Gluten-Free Breadcrumbs (also made from corn). Somehow, in my mind, I pictured these from Southern Homestyle to be different. But…alas…they were just about the same in appearance and everything.
The canister holds corn flake crumbles, that are tiny and round, that are ideal to use with veggies, meats, or whatever. Being a no-meat kind of a girl, I decided to use the eggplant I got in my SCA bin this week and make an eggplant parmesan. The corn flake crumbles from Southern Homestyle would come in handy and I had happened to pick up a can of them when my grocery store ran a huge closeout on their gluten-free section. I fetched them from my gluten-free pantry and poured them into a dish. After coating my eggplant in the egg/almond milk/water wash, they were liberally dipped into the Southern Homestyle Corn Flake Crumbs and placed on a baking dish.
The corn flake crumbs didn’t get soggy with each dipping, and I had four slices of eggplant to do. It clumped some, but any coating getting inundated by foods coated in egg and the like would do the same. With the eggplant generously coated in the corn flake crumbs, I baked them up for 20 minutes, turning them halfway through, and then finished up. After letting the “breaded” eggplant rest for 5 minutes, into a baking pan they went with marinara sauce and some vegan cheese. Back into the oven for another 20 minutes and they emerged ready to eat.
On its own, the Corn Flake Crumbs by Southern Homestyle would be rather bland. Paired with the eggplant, the marinara, and the cheese, however, it brought that much needed texture to the dish. Unlike wheat breadcrumbs, these corn flake crumbs do not get soggy as they sit, or are baked or coated. They remain crunchy. Success!! It really made the eggplant parmesan pop!
I hear this coating is ideal for frying too. A lot of eggplant parmesan recipes call for the eggplant to be fried in a pan…but I’ve never been big on fried foods, so I oven baked mine for a healthier option and it worked out just fine. I still got a crispy outer crust, just without the added oil and fat. However, the Southern Homestyle Corn Flake Crumbs would be ideal if you did choose to pan fry as the corn flake crumbs pick up less oil in the frying process, which in the end means less calories consumed and no oily appearance.
Because of the blandness on their own, it makes them more versatile. Dress them up with seasonings and spices however you wish. There are no limits here. And best of all…the finished product has that nice crispy outer layer, whether pan fried or oven baked. And that…is a beautiful thing in the kitchen.
An added bonus for the food allergic is that these Corn Flake Crumbs are gluten-free, wheat free, milk/casein free, lactose free, soy free, egg free, peanut free, tree nut free, and yeast free. They are kosher, vegan and vegetarian. So, unless you have a corn allergy…these would ideally work for you.
Look for Southern Homestyle Corn Flake Crumbs in your grocery store and see what they can do to dress up your dish!
The Celiathlete 