Abby Swain's Focaccia
INGREDIENTS
475g High-gluten flour
20g sugar
14g salt
7g active dry yeast OR 125g sourdough
280ml water
30ml olive oil
Abby Swain is one of our very dear friends from Natalia’s time in NYC, and we are so excited she agreed to come on The Shift Show!
Abby graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Baking and Pastry Arts at the Culinary Institute of America before moving to Paris to further her education at Le Cordon Bleu where she received a diploma in Patisserie. After graduating, she staged at Sucre Cacao where she acquired the grit and dedication to succeed within this industry.
Upon returning to the United States, Abby worked under the tutelage of Karen DeMasco at Craft New York and learned how to integrate local and seasonal ingredients into Craft’s dessert menu. She later relocated to Atlanta in 2008, where she was presented with a unique opportunity to help open Bakeshop as a sous chef for Jonathan St Hilaire. Here, she had the chance to focus on the complexities of bread production. Soon after, Abby stepped into her role as pastry chef for Scott Serpas of Serpas True Food in Atlanta. Then, in 2011, excited for new challenges, Abby returned to New York City and took on the position as pastry chef of CraftBar, and a year later was promoted to pastry chef of both Craft and CraftBar.
Today, Abby Swain is the Executive Pastry Chef of Tom Colicchio’s Temple Court, a fine-dining American restaurant within The Beekman, an iconic and landmarked hotel in lower Manhattan. Here, Abby is applying all the knowledge acquired from her experiences to create innovative desserts influenced by classic New York cuisine from the 19th and 20th centuries for Temple Court, The Bar Room, private events and in-room dining.
Have a listen back to our episode with Abby on The Shift Show. We has a slight technical glitch, so you’ll find the show in two parts.
METHOD
Combine warm water, oil in bowl add dry yeast or sourdough.
Add dry ingredients and mix (speed 1 if using stand up mixer)
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes OR mix on speed 2 to develop gluten for about 7 minutes.
Shape into a ball and place in a well oiled bowl, cover with plastic allow to bulk ferment until doubled in size (can be 2-4 hours depending).
Flatten into a round and place in well oiled pan (I like to use cast iron) and cover for best results (sourdough especially); cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.
Following day proof at room temp to bake same day; allow to proof about an hour, until dough stops springing back to the touch.
Preheat oven to 200C.
Prod with your fingers to create those beautiful focaccia grooves.
Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt, garnish with herbs and/or veggies.
Bake for 10 minutes, then drop the temp to 170c, rotate and bake until light golden brown - about 10 additional minutes. Check the bottom of your bread to make sure it is also golden.