Skidne Æg - Eggs in Mustard Sauce
Eggs in mustard sauce is a classic old Danish easter lunch dish eaten Saturday before easter. In Denmark easter is two sets of two religious holidays. Skærtorsdag (Maundy Thursday), Langfredag (Good Friday), Påskedag (Easter Sunday) and 2. Påskedag (Easter Monday). In between the sets of religious holidays, is Saturday. This Saturday called skiden lørdag (dirty Saturday . because it was used to clean up from all the entertaining Thursday and Friday, and make the house presentable for more entertaining during the easter days. So the Danes wanted an easy dish to serve on this busy day, and the dish eggs in mustard sauce was born, and got the weird name dirty eggs or skidne æg.
In my family we didn't have egg hunts or easter egg roll. We got easter eggs, and we had the first of the 3 big family lunches of the year. I loved these lunches, because it was here we saw all our cousins and extended family. And we alway went for a walk in the forest close to my aunts house, and we saw the first real signs of spring, with the small flowers under the trees.
Serves 2.
Ingredients:
4 eggs
Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 large tablespoons all-purpose flour
about 2 cups milk
2-3 tablespoons mustard, I used haft a coarse mustard and half dijon
salt & pepper to taste
Topping:
cress or peppergrass sprouts
Direction:
Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Carefully add the eggs and boil until a little more than soft boiled. I cooked my large eggs for 7 minutes. Cooking time varies depending on egg size.
Cress or peppergrass sprouts.
Drain the water from the eggs, and pour cold water into the pot to stop the cooking. Peel the eggs and set aside.
While coking the eggs make the sauce. Melt the butter in a small pan, you don’t want the butter to brown. When the butter is melted add flour and a pinch of salt and whisk vigorously, making the flour absorbing all the butter. Add the milk a little of a time, while whisking, until you have the right consistency, like a béchamel sauce. Let the sauce cook for 1-2 minutes, this with remove the floury taste. Season the sauce with mustard, salt and pepper. You want to have a strong mustard taste, so use your favorite non-sweet mustard.
Add boiled eggs to a serving dish, and pour over the sauce and sprinkle with cress sprouts. Serve the eggs with a slice of toasted danish rye bread.
Enjoy!