City Mink makes a Budino

  One of the better things about the World Wide Web is that when you have an ingredient in your pantry/fridge that was bought on an impulse...."Oh, so pretty and I've always wanted to make something with that...I think I have a recipe for that too".... So, you buy said ingredient and go home, stick it in your fridge or pantry and look for that recipe you are so sure you have. 

    You look through your cook books, your recipe clippings, maybe it was in that stack of magazines you still need to go through? Or, was it in the paper (which paper? There's a weeks' worth of three of them). Now dear readers, you are thinking I am like those hoarders on T.V....nothing of the sort. I just can't stand eating the same meal over and over. I like to try new things and have a constant source of inspiration around me. Cooking and Baking is a way to be creative and let off steam, unless its been a particularly dreadful week at work and I am drained...then pasta is usually the way to go (or take out Thai, my one caveat to ordering in). 

   The food in question in my recipe search was meyer lemons. 

Meyer lemons are a sweeter version of a regular lemon, introduced to America in 1908 by Frank Nicholas Meyer. Native to China it is thought to be a cross between a regular lemon and a clementine or orange. 

   Unable to find the mystery recipe I thought I saw, I simply Googled my way to an Epicurious recipe for a Meyer Lemon Budino. Budino is Italian for pudding, but a budino is more than a pudding. Part soufflé, part custard and a little bit of a curd; it is an unexpected dessert. 

 The budino is an easy dessert, you can make it while still being able to watch the "Who Dat" get slowly beaten out of the New Orleans Saints by the San Francisco 49er's. The one key to any dessert in which you separate your eggs separate into yolks and whites is the proper whipping of the whites. Luckily the budino calls only for soft peaks. After combining your zest, juice, yolks, blur and sugar, you fold in your fluffy egg whites (in two batches), divide up your "batter" ramekins. 

Budino's taking a sauna bath 

The budino cooks in a warm water bath at a low temperature. The water bath promotes even cooking and helps the moisture in. Making the water bath is easy, all you need is a roasting pan. After you fill up the ramekins, place them in the roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with warm water until the water comes up to the middle of the ramekins. Pop them in the oven, cook for 30 minutes, take them out and enjoy.

Finished budino with whipped cream