Chef Tommy Hope at Sid at the French Café on Symonds Street. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Chef Tommy Hope at Sid at the French Café on Symonds Street. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Tommy Hope is head chef at Sid at the French Cafe in Auckland. He has recently returned from Melbourne where he worked at world-renowned restaurant Attica. On Sundays he likes to spend time with family and friends and whip up some good food on the barbecue.
What do Sundays look like in your kitchen?
Sundays start slow, coffee in bed and then up to walk our dog Zahk around the neighbourhood (Sandringham).
I might head out to Kingsland Social for breakfast, then if the weather is good, I’ll often head over to the Westmere Butcher, grab something to go on the barbecue and invite some friends over for a beer in the afternoon.
I’ll light up the hibachi (a little coal-fired brazier) and throw on a tomahawk [steak] and a few skewers. Our garden is perfect for Sunday entertaining and long lunches.
Why have you chosen this dish?
Barbecues are all about catching up with friends and, without careful planning, you can find yourself stuck on grill duties and miss out on those moments. This dish has a couple of larger prep jobs that can done be the day before so you can spend more time by the pool and not on the tools. The flatbread recipe is versatile and on another occasion, you could mix it up and grill some steak, chicken or lamb skewers.
Photo / Jason Oxenham
Tommy Hope’s grilled scampi and yoghurt flatbreads
Makes 12 flatbread
12 x scampi (shells removed, or substitute for large prawns)
1. First weigh the water and yeast, mix together and set aside for 10 minutes somewhere warm to activate.
2. In a kitchen aid or mixer, add to the mixing bowl the flour, salt and sugar and mix with dough hook for 20 seconds to combine. Then add the rest of the ingredients and the water and yeast mixture and mix with a dough hook on low speed for 10 minutes until smooth and shiny.
3. Place dough in the fridge in a covered container for at least 2 hours to rest and cool.
4. Once the dough is cool, weigh out 50g balls and roll into circles around 5mm thick, using fine semolina to prevent sticking to the bench. You can layer these between baking paper and keep in the fridge until ready to grill.
5. These will take around 30 seconds to a minute on each side, cooked over charcoal or on the grill side of a barbecue. When they start to bubble and colour you can flip them over and finish cooking the other side. Store between tea towels while you finish cooking the rest of the breads. Be careful not to overcook as they will become dry and crispy.
Sweet chilli jam (or use store-bought sweet chilli jam)
2. Add this to a pot with the rest of the ingredients and cook slowly until it has reduced to a jammy consistency, around half of its original volume. You can test this by spooning some of the jam on to a plate in the fridge.
3. Cool in fridge for an hour. If you are not great with heat, you can remove the seeds from the chilies beforehand.
1. Grill scampi with a little olive oil and sea salt, then brush some softened salted butter on to your warm flatbreads and add a dollop of minted yoghurt. Add scampi, top with a drizzle of sweet chili sauce and top with salad. Serve immediately.
