AB's Biscuits

I made Biscuits & Gravy for breakfast the other day.  I didn't want to use refrigerated biscuits, they don't seem to hold up to the gravy the way I like.

Being a dedicated follower of Mr. Alton Brown, I looked up his Southern Biscuit recipe.  These biscuits are great.  They puffed up so much and were just right with my gravy.  Thanks AB!

Southern Biscuits
from Alton Brown

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup buttermilk, chilled*

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredient until mixture looks like crumbs. (the faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.)  Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk.  Stir just until the dough comes together.  The dough will be very sticky.
3. Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times.  Press in a 1" thick round.  Cut out biscuits with a 2" cutter, being sure to push straights down through the dough.  Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch.  Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting.  (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)
4. Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

*If you don't have buttermilk, don't fret.  Combine 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, stir, and allow it to sit for 2 minutes.