I got up this morning and made 2 dozen Buttermilk Biscuits. It had been weighing on my mind all night. They're actually for a friends' birthday party, a foodie-friend, actually the ex Creative Director of Martha Stewart (no pressure!) and while it was the first thing I thought about this morning when I woke, I literally got up, as in a trance, made coffee, and then grabbed a big bowl and started making, and they were done in 30 minutes. Sometimes its better not to think too hard about things and just do it! Begin the motions and before you know it, it's done. 10 minutes to make them, 20 for baking time and within minutes the house was fragrant with the smell of fresh baked biscuits and I realized it wasn't even 10 am and the task that was on my mind most of the night was completed. I used a special buttermilk this time and I think it made a huge difference. This recipe is from Alton Brown so it's foolproof, and easy, and Oh-so-good... I highly recommend getting up tomorrow morning and making everyone a batch of these.... Hot Southern Buttermilk Biscuits, pile them high with lots of Unsalted Butter and Strawberry Jam, or Orange Marmalade which is my favorite... Heaven!
Have a great weekend everyone! x
-----------------------------------------
HOT BUTTERMILK BISCUITS Recipe from Alton Brown The recipe makes 1 dozen, I doubled this to make my 2 dozen.
2 cups of flour (I used all purpose) 4 teaspoons of baking powder 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda 3/4 teaspoon of salt (I used kosher salt) 2 tablespoons of butter (I used Organic Unsalted) 2 tablespoons of shortening (I used Organic All Vegetable Shortening) 1 cup of Buttermilk (I used Amish Country Buttermilk with live probiotic cultures from Eco Meal)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Using your fingertips rub the butter and shortening until the mixture looks like thick crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky. Turn dough onto floured surface, and gently fold dough onto itself a couple of times. Press out to 1 inch think round, cut out biscuits with a 2 inch cutter, be sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet. Reform scrap dough working as little as possible and continue cutting. (Note from Alton: biscuits from the second roll out will not be quite as light from the first but hey, that's life.)
Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top. 15-20 minutes.
----------------------------
Pics: Dimity Jones