Make ‘Everyday Grand’ with Jocelyn Delk Adams’ stunning new cookbook

Are you having a good hair day? Did your child take his first step? Well, boo, these everyday wins are just as important to celebrate as Christmas or Mother’s Day, proclaims Jocelyn Delk Adams in her delightful new cookbook, “Everyday Grand: Soulful Recipes for Celebrating Life’s Big and Small Moments” (Clarkson Potter, $32.50).

The cookbook, a follow up to 2015’s “Grandbaby Cakes,” is a life-affirming, joy-inducing collection of 80-plus Southern-inspired comfort food recipes from one of the country’s most beloved Black food bloggers. Recipes range from Delk Adams’ grandmother’s Cornmeal Butter Biscuits, which Big Momma made nearly every day for 80 years, to a potato salad so revered it is the cookout centerpiece to a Black-Eyed Pea Power Bowl, which the author makes as fuel for runs but also “for celebrating your own ‘Rocky’ moment.”

Written during the pandemic with Olga Massov, “Everyday Grand” captures Delk Adams’ infectiously sunny personality with every party-dress-wearing page. That vibe is evident even in the heaviest of times, including shutdowns that kept this extrovert isolated and in the days following the murder of George Floyd, when Delk Adams had to have difficult conversations with white friends about what it means to be an ally. In those moments, she made Check Yo’ Privilege Cider-Smothered Pork Chops, which uses a common Southern braising technique.

There are many important recipes in this collection, but perhaps none as coveted as mac and cheese, which in Black culture is as obligatory — if not more so — as turkey on Thanksgiving, she writes. Learning to make it — “baked, period, full stop… we don’t stovetop in these streets” — is a rite of passage. It must be “creamy yet casserole-y” and several cheeses must be used.

The recipe, adapted from her Auntie Rose and shared here, features five cheeses, five cups combined whole milk and heavy cream and a kiss of bouillon. Make it for any holiday, opening night of your kid’s play or to greet the weekend.

The Ultimate Mac and Cheese

Serves 8 to 10

INGREDIENTS

1 chicken bouillon cube, such as Knorr

1 pound large elbow pasta

1½­ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1½­ cups shredded mild cheddar cheese

1½­ cups shredded Colby Jack or pepper Jack cheese (for a kick)

1­½ cups shredded Gruyère cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

4 tablespoons (­½ stick) unsalted butter

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1½­ teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¾ teaspoon smoked paprika

­½ teaspoon mustard powder

½ teaspoon granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2½­ cups heavy cream

2­½ cups whole milk

½­ cup sour cream

1½­ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon hot sauce

3 tablespoons minced fresh chives, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Fill a large heavy-bottomed pot with 5 quarts water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the bouillon cube and stir to dissolve. Add the pasta and cook until al dente according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta and slide to the side.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss together the cheddars, Colby Jack, Gruyère and mozzarella until combined.