One of my new favorite foods:

POLENTA! Why haven't I tried it until now?! Why were the first twenty-five years of my life polenta-less?!

This week (four days in), I've had it three times. When looking up different ways to serve it, it seems most people like it sliced and fried on either side, which is how I've had it the past couple days. It's good, but I really loved it the first day- Sunday- when I made it creamy and porridge-like with a sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes fresh from the garden.

A perfect Sunday brunch.

I sort of made the recipe up as I went along, since every recipe I found was more or less the same as this, with minor variations in amounts, the cheese used, or had milk substituted for the water, or whatever:

Bring 4 C water, a teaspoon of salt and a lot of pepper to boil.
Add about 3/4 c cornmeal, and stir until smooth and thick- five to ten minutes.
Crumble in some cotija and a tablespoon or two of butter.
Serve with whatever.

(put the leftovers in a loaf pan, cover, and refrigerate. Then you've got the slice-able, fry-able kind).