Quick links: Pea Soup | Boiled Eggs | [Bonus] Hedgehog Slice | Verdict
Rescuer’s Down Under was one of my very favorite movies as a kid. I really wanted to be Cody and scale giant walls in Australia to save HUGE eagles. Watching it again made me relive all my childhood fantasies. I always remembered the food in this. PEA SOUP! I quote this line too often.
Pea Soup!
Right after Cody gets caught, we see a fancy restaurant for humans, then on the chandelier, there’s a rodent section, complete with cricket waiters. One of the humans drop a pea, which is picked up by one of the bugs and given to the bug chef.
Pea soup is now on the menu.
I had never made pea soup before. We don’t see what is already in the thimble the chef uses to make the pea soup, so I took some liberties in this recipe, assuming that he got some other items that humans might have dropped.
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (10-oz) bag frozen peas
- 4 teaspoons plain greek yogurt or sour cream (optional)
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over moderately-low heat.
- Add the onion, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the broth, spices, salt and a few turns of freshly ground black pepper and bring to a boil. Add the peas and cook just until defrosted.
- In a blender, puree the soup in 2 batches until very smooth.
- If serving hot, return the soup to the pot and bring just to a simmer.
- If serving cold, transfer to the refrigerator to chill.
- Ladle into bowls.
- Stir the yogurt so that it is smooth and top each serving with a swirl of yogurt.
Not Joanna Eggs
One of the best scenes in the movie is when Joanna is stealing the poacher’s eggs.
To make this super realistic, I would have to swallow a whole uncooked egg. I’m not sure if I can physically do that, so I opted to make a hardboiled egg and eat that.
To make good hardboiled eggs, put the eggs in a pot and cover with about an inch of water. Make sure you don’t overcrowd the pot with eggs. Bring the water to a roaring boil. Once it reaches the boil, turn the heat to a low and let it simmer, covered for 10-12 minutes. Strain the water and let the eggs sit in cold water for at least another 10-12 minutes before serving. I also found this handy chart of what the eggs look like at certain cook times.
[Bonus] Hedgehog Slice
Joanna is also shown eating animal crackers.
(Credit: DIsney)
Animal crackers aren’t really a recipe, but it prompted me to make an Aussie dessert. Hedgehog Slice. It’s basically a fudge-type food with biscuits (or animal crackers) inside.
- 250g animal crackers or other biscuit cookie such as Maria cookies or Biscoff cookies (crushed into small pieces)
- ½ cup soft brown sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa
- 100g dark or milk chocolate, chopped
- 1 Tbsp golden syrup (can be made with 2 tsp light corn syrup and 1 tsp dark molasses)
- 100g butter
- 1 egg
- (optional: ½ cup desiccated coconut)
- 200g dark chocolate, chopped
- 50g butter
- Lightly grease a 20cm (8in) square cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper or grease.
- In a large bowl combine animal crackers, brown sugar, (coconut), and cocoa.
- In a small saucepan, over a gentle heat stir chocolate, golden syrup and butter until mixture is melted and combined.
- Cool slightly.
- Whisk in egg.
- Pour mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
- Spoon into prepared tin and press firmly into the tin with the back of the spoon.
- Chill while preparing the chocolate topping.
- Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over hot water until melted.
- Stir to combine. Spread over the chilled slice.
- Refrigerate until topping is set.
- Cut into small squares to serve
- I found it tastes better when refrigerated overnight.
Will it make you Soar with Marahute?
So, I think I overseasoned the pea soup. The recipe provided is less seasoned. Needless to say, I wasn’t too happy with it. However, I LOVED the hedgehog slice. It was delicious and probably VERY fattening.
Verdict:
Pea Soup – 5/10
Joana’s Egg – 6/10
Hedgehog Slice – 9/10