Buttermilk Biscuits

I love this recipe from Alton Brown's Good Eats cookbook.  Alton is very specific that when baking, you should weigh your dry ingredients, rather than just using a measuring cup. I picked up a kitchen scale a few years back, and it works great.  I really have no idea what the size of the dry ingredients is, as I always weigh them, but I think you can find a converter online.  Or you can just go get a scale. 

12 oz. all purpose flour (plus extra for dusting)
4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp kosher salt (I throw in a healthy size pinch)
1 oz unsalted butter (a stick is 4 oz, so, it's 1/4 of a stick, or 2 Tbsp)
2 oz shortening (I use the Crisco sticks, that look like butter)
1 c. buttermilk

Preheat to 400 degrees
1. Wisk together all dry ingredients
2. Using fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry items until you get coarse crumbles
3. Make a well in the middle and add the buttermilk.
4. Stir until the dough just comes together.  Knead in the bowl until all the flour comes up.
5. Turn the dough on a lightly floured surface and fold the dough onto itself, gently kneading for about 30 seconds, until the dough is soft and smooth
6. Press the dough into a 1 in thick round
7. Using a 3 in round cutter, cut biscuits, making the cuts as close a possible  (I was stunned at how little dough there was when it's 1 in high.  I only got about 4-5 biscuits out of the first cut)
8. Place the biscuits on the half-sheet pan, so they barely touch.  Reroll and re-cut as many as possible.  I usually get 3 tries, then leave the last one as a small biscuit on the side (or Patrick eats the dough).
9. Use your thumb to make a shallow dimple in the top center and bake at 400 degrees until tall and light gold (about 15-20 minutes).
10.  Turn the biscuits out on a (clean) kitchen towel lined basket and let cool for a few minutes.