Skidne Æg (Smiling Eggs In Mustard Sauce)
I think it’s about high time that I make something Danish again and with Easter approaching I thought this lunch or dinner plate would be great. For this particular Danish dish, I choose to rename the dish rather than translating it because the name is not all that appetizing. If you google translate the name it gives you “dirty” or “filthy” eggs, and so smiling eggs sounds a little better to me.
Skidne Æg is an old-fashioned dish and today in Denmark it can still be found on the Danish Easter lunch table, but it can be served anytime really. It used to be served on the Saturday before Easter which was known as Skiden Lørdag (dirty Saturday). I should explain that in Denmark this Saturday is flanked by two holidays on either side; Skærtorsdag (Maundy Thursday) and Langfredag (Good Friday) on one side and Påske (Easter) and Anden Påskedag (Easter Monday) on the other side. So the Saturday in-between the holidays was the day when you were busy cleaning house from having company and needed something easy for dinner, and this is indeed a very easy and delicious dish.
When you make Skidne Æg you can use a spicy mustard or perhaps a milder Dijon mustard or a whole grain mustard, just choose whichever is your favorite mustard. When you cook the eggs you want them to be, what in Danish is referred to as “smiling” eggs. The outer layer of the yolk should be slightly firm and the yolk center soft, so not hard boiled and not soft boiled, but in-between. Actually, I like them a little more on the soft boiled side, so again boil the eggs the way you like them 🙂 I hope you enjoy this classic Danish dish.
Skidne Æg (serves 2)
Ingredients:
4 eggs
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 liter milk (16 oz)
3 tablespoon mustard (your favorite kind)
salt to taste
Serving suggestions:
toasted dark rye bread (Rugbrød), fresh fried chopped bacon, top with chives
Directions:
Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add eggs and boil until soft boiled (cooking time varies depending on egg size, I used a size large egg and boiled for 7 minutes). When done boiling, pour out boiling water, add cold water and let sit for 1 minute. Peel eggs and set aside.
Meanwhile in a small pan, melt butter. Once butter is melted add flour and whisk vigorously while cooking for 1-2 minutes. Add milk in increments while stirring until you have a slightly thick Bechamel sauce. Add mustard, stir and let simmer for another two minutes. Season with salt to taste. Add boiled eggs to sauce and allow to heat through. Serve with toasted dark rye bread and enjoy!
Source: My Danish Kitchen
My Danish Kitchen 
Would a more accurate translation of Skidne Æg not be —– DIRTY eggs?
Kracaeur, if you read my write-up of the post you’ll see that I mention dirty, but prefer smiling and the reason why.
Dem spiser jeg i dag!!! 😀
Congratulations for the blog! I’ve been nominated for this award!
http://sweetpetitart.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/premio-liebster-award/
Big hugs. Iana.
Congratulations Lana!
Reblogged this on het doorgeefluik and commented:
Het recept heb ik zelf nog niet gemaakt, maar het water loopt mij de in mond bij die mooie Deense gerecht.
Trouwens, de blog van Mydanishkitchen.com is een aanrader voor als je van koken en lekker eten houdt.
It looks godt! I’m trying to learn Danish (for fun) and your blog is one of the first I’ve met… Wish me luck. It’s not too difficult to learn, is it?
I love eggs and so does my daughter. I’m thinking we’ll have skidne æg this weekend, as long as I can find some Rugbrød.
Good luck to you, both with your Danish and making Skidne Æg. Have fun with the language 🙂
I love the sounds of this dish and am delighted by the name change. 🙂 It makes me smile. 🙂
I love Skidne Æg , Mom used to make it for lunch when we needed a little more substantial meal. I don’t remember if she only made it at Easter, but I don’t think she did. And I make it for myself from time to time as well. I like your name for it.
Thank you Sid. I think we got the dish outside Easter as well, and why not, it’s delicious.
Thank you , you have just brought back a million childhood memories from Easter at my gransparents farm and it is now on our menu for this coming easter.
As a child we were never allowed to eat the herring (Sild) for entree it was for the Adults but there was always Skidne Eag for everyone. The play on words around the childrens table was always extremely amusing as SKIDNE as other cologcial meanings and is still mentioned at the rare occasions that we are able to get together.
Thank you again for bring back these memories…
Mette, my pleasure. I have similar very funny memories of playing with the name of this dish when I was little as well, but I decided not to go into any details of those jokes to avoid turning off or offend any of my readers. Enjoy your Skidne Æg.
Very good choice,,, I can just imagine what some people would think if you translated it to some of the more “Child Like versions”.. Thank again for a wonderful blog
I know, I wasn’t even gonna go there.
Mums – I was planning to make “skidne æg” for some time now, but you beat me to it. Now I’ll make your recipe for our easter lunch, using the “fiskesennep” I got on my last trip to Denmark.
I like your name for the dish, it makes it sound so much better.
Tove, fiskesennep sounds like a really good choice 🙂
Sound great. Looking forward to trying it
Andree, I think you’ll really like it, it’s very delicious.
Well – the name might not be appetizing, but the photo is – and it tastes great. We only make it for Easter – but it is a delicious and not at all expensive dish, so maybe it should be renamed ‘smiling end of the month eggs’?
vh/Karen
Karen, I like that name 🙂 When my family came over to visit it was on my list of “must make foods” while they were here and it is delicious, one of my favorites.