I don't believe I've ever had polenta, or if I have, it's been too long ago for me to remember. My son doesn't like the texture of anything small and gritty - no grits, couscous, etc., so I don't bother making it most of the time, though I will get stuff like that out at a restaurant. The way you fixed it, essegi, looks interesting, but I'm kind of getting a chuckle out of "American cheese". That looks like Cheez Whiz, which no one here in their right mind would describe as "American cheese". It's more like something reminiscient of cheese that's considered a dip, but not really cheese. Got a good texture for when you don't want to hassle making your own cheese dip though, and want something uber-fast - kind of like McDonalds is to hamburgers..... Consider:
Ingredients: Whey, Milk, Canola Oil, Maltodextrin, Milk Protein Concentrate, Sodium Phosphate, Contains Less than 2% of Modified Food Starch, Salt, Lactic Acid, Whey Protein Concentrate, Mustard Flour, Worcestershire Sauce (Vinegar, Molasses, Corn Syrup, Water, Salt, Caramel Color, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Spices, Tamarind, Natural Flavor), Sodium Alginate, Sorbic Acid as a Preservative, Oleoresin Paprika (Color), Annatto (Color), Cheese Culture, Enzymes, Natural Flavor.
Ok, at least the makings of cheese are actually in there!
On another note, I made applesauce of a sort last night. Looks more like a cross between apple butter and apple sauce - definitely thicker than applesauce, but also brown like apple butter. My daughter brought a gift basket of apples, not knowing we already had more apples than we could reasonably eat in the house already. I kind of played with seasonings - brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, ginger (a lot of ginger), coriander, mace, aji panca powder and cayenne powder. I'm pretty sure I put something else in there, but that's all I remember. At any rate, it's a nice mix of sweet and heat, though not picture-pretty. I think I'm going to make another batch, but this time add some whiskey.
