Carla Hall's Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe: One of the Most Influential Black Chefs in the South | Breakfast | 30Seconds Food (2024)

Southern Kitchen named the 20 most influential African American chefs cooking in the American South today. You may recognize some of them because they have their own cooking shows; these cooks are TV stars and household names. Others have dedicated their careers to teaching the next generation of chefs, while others on the list are “changing our culinary scene from behind the line” (Southern Kitchen).

Among the influential chefs named by Southern Kitchen is Nashville native Carla Hall who gained fame on Top Chef. Her cooking talents and outgoing personality landed her a co-hosting spot on The Chew and led to two cookbook deals. Outside of the kitchen and TV studio, Hall is actively involved with several nonprofits, including Chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen Chef Network, D.C. Central Kitchen, and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs.

One of Hall’s top 10 most popular recipes of 2022 was her buttermilk biscuits. On her website, she shares, “I doubt anyone will be surprised about the recipe that stole the second spot for most popular this year. Biscuits are something I am so passionate about making and sharing and I hope that shines through when I share them with you. I love that you all seem just as excited about perfecting your biscuit baking skills as I am about imparting the knowledge I've gained from countless hours in the kitchen creating the perfect recipe and process.”

You can find Carla Hall’s buttermilk biscuits recipe in her cookbook Carla’s Comfort Foods, or right here!

Cuisine: American Southern
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time:15 minutes plus 5 minutes to cool
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen, plus more for the pan
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping the dough
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
  • 1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk

Here’s how to make it:

  1. To make the dough with a food processor (alternate option below): Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda in the bowl of the food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse a few times, until well mixed. Add the shortening and pulse until fine crumbs form. With the machine running, switch to the grating disk attachment. Push the frozen butter through the feed tube.
  2. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and toss to make sure all the butter sheds are coated with the floury crumbs form. Add the buttermilk and fold in using a rubber spatula, running the flat of it through the center of the mixture and then around the edge while you rotate the bowl. Continue, being as gentle as possible, until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened.
  3. To make the dough by hand: Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl with an open hand, using your fingers as a whisk. Add the shortening and use your fingertips to pinch it completely into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  4. Using a box grater, grate the frozen butter on the large holes into the flour. Toss until all the pieces are coated. Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture. Using your hand, gently mix until there are no dry bits of flour left. The dough will be sticky; do not worry! Lightly coat your work surface with nonstick cooking spray, and then flour.
  5. Turn the dough out onto the lightly floured surface and gently pat into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle. Sprinkle the dough with the flour, then fold it in thirds like a letter. Repeat the patting, sprinkling and folding twice, rotating the dough 90 degrees each time. Pat the dough to 3/4-thickness. It should no longer be sticky.
  6. Flour a 2-inch biscuit cutter and press it straight down into the dough. Transfer the round to a buttered cookie sheet, placing the bottom side up. Repeat, cutting the rounds as close together as possible and spacing them 1 inch apart on the pan. Stack the scraps, pat to 3/4-inch thickness, and cut again. Refrigerate the rounds until cold, 15 minutes or more.
  7. Bake in a preheated 450-degree F ovenuntil the tops are golden brown and crisp, about 15 to16 minutes. Let cool for five minutes on the cookie sheet before serving hot.

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Carla Hall's Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe: One of the Most Influential Black Chefs in the South | Breakfast | 30Seconds Food (2024)

FAQs

Why do biscuits taste better in the South? ›

Here's the Reason Biscuits in the South Really Are Better

The not-so-secret ingredient they rely upon is soft wheat flour. Soft wheat thrives in temperate, moist climates like that of the mid-Atlantic, so cooks in those areas have had access to its special flour for a long time.

When were buttermilk biscuits invented? ›

It's up for debate exactly how long ago buttermilk biscuits first came on the scene, but the general consensus from historians is that they originate from Southern Appalachia, most likely in the 1800s.

Why are buttermilk biscuits so good? ›

Buttermilk is used in biscuit-making for its acid and fat content. Its acidity works with the leaveners to help the dough rise, producing a taller and fluffier biscuit. Buttermilk also adds a subtle tang. Cream biscuits are made with heavy cream.

How to fold biscuit dough into thirds? ›

You'll pat your biscuit dough out into an 8x4" rectangle and then fold the rectangle in thirds by bringing the short sides into the center, just like you would fold a business letter (or swaddle a baby?).

What flour do southerners use for biscuits? ›

Southern buttermilk biscuit recipes typically call for White Lily flour, a low-protein brand primarily available in the southern states that makes for ultra-tender, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits.

What is the number 1 biscuit in the world? ›

As the world's leading biscuit brand, Parle-G has become more than just a product; it represents cherished memories and a taste that transcends generations.

What's the difference between a Southern style biscuit and a buttermilk biscuit? ›

There are many theories about why Southern biscuits are different (ahem, better) than other biscuits—richer buttermilk, more butter, better grandmothers—but the real difference is more fundamental. Southern biscuits are different because of the flour most Southerners use. My grandmother swore by White Lily flour.

What do the British call buttermilk biscuits? ›

A Biscuit (U.S.) Is a Scone (U.K.)

The closest British equivalent to those buttery miracles is a scone, which ain't too bad either. Both baked goodies use flour, fat, liquid and a leavening agent.

What is the oldest biscuit brand in the world? ›

Huntley & Palmers biscuit tin. Formed in Reading, Berkshire in 1822, the biscuit company became one of the world's first global brands.

Which liquid makes the best biscuits? ›

Just as important as the fat is the liquid used to make your biscuits. Our Buttermilk Biscuit recipe offers the choice of using milk or buttermilk. Buttermilk is known for making biscuits tender and adding a zippy tang, so we used that for this test.

Why do Southerners eat biscuits? ›

That biscuits are tasty is a given—they wouldn't be so widely beloved if they weren't. But they're functional too—useful for sopping up grits and gravies, or for pushing that unruly little pile of purple hull peas up on your fork.

What happens if you use milk instead of buttermilk in biscuits? ›

Compared to cultured buttermilk, plain milk is watery, making the dough so heavy and wet that it oozes into a puddle, turning the biscuits flat and dense.

Why do you fold dough 3 times? ›

To make the recipe with a mix-and-fold method, stir together the ingredients, then perform a bowl fold three to four times in the first hour. As you make those 10 to 12 strokes, working your way around the bowl, you'll feel the dough organizing itself, strengthening, and tightening.

Is biscuit dough the same as puff pastry? ›

Folding a biscuit or pie dough mimics this process. These doughs don't have distinct layers of butter and dough, like puff pastry, but they do have large chunks of cold butter distributed throughout.

How thick should you leave your dough when you cut your biscuits? ›

Cut the dough into thirds with a bench scraper, stack the three sections, and roll the dough out again to about 1 inch thick. Instead of cutting the dough, you can also just fold the dough, if you prefer. This step really helps to create the fluffy, flaky layers inside the biscuits.

What's the difference between southern biscuits and regular biscuits? ›

There are many theories about why Southern biscuits are different (ahem, better) than other biscuits—richer buttermilk, more butter, better grandmothers—but the real difference is more fundamental. Southern biscuits are different because of the flour most Southerners use. My grandmother swore by White Lily flour.

Why does food taste better in the South? ›

Food from the South contains a plethora of herbs and spices that enhance the flavors of the food that's being cooked, especially in traditional Southern cooking. There's also a specific technique that they use in the South that adds to these complex flavors.

Are biscuits a southern thing? ›

 Biscuits are a staple of Southern comfort cuisine, and I grew up on my grandmother's, their brown-speckled tops crowning cushy, delicate insides begging for a fat pat of butter. That biscuits are tasty is a given—they wouldn't be so widely beloved if they weren't.

Why do southerners like biscuits and gravy? ›

The meal emerged as a distinct regional dish after the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), when stocks of foodstuffs were in short supply. Breakfast was necessarily the most substantial meal of the day for a person facing a day of work on the plantations in the American South.

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