Mashed Yuca

We've really been loving yuca in our house lately. They're a perfect substitute for potatoes and they're extra convenient since I buy them already peeled and frozen. It's such a handy ingredient to have stored in the freezer, especially since we don't really buy potatoes that much anymore (since my sister discovered they make her ill).

A few weeks ago, I made some grilled ribs and wasn't sure of what to do for sides. I ended up making a small batch of truffle cheddar mac & cheese, green beans, and salad. But because there was only a small pan of pasta, I decided we needed more carbs so I turned to the trusty yuca in the freezer and made some mash. It's literally the same as regular mashed potatoes except it's yuca. And, I decided to throw in some cream cheese because why not?

Ingredients [serves 6]:
1½ lbs. yuca (peeled)
½ cup milk
2 cloves garlic, smashed
¼ cup butter
4 oz. cream cheese
salt & pepper

Start by boiling the yuca until it's nice and tender. I started with frozen yuca and it took about 20 minutes.

Grab a small saucepan and combine the smashed garlic, milk, and butter and heat over low until scalding.

Drain the yuca and return to the pot. Remove any roots and tough bits from the yuca, if necessary. Pour in the hot milk mixture and the cream cheese and use a masher to break up the yuca. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Yuca is a lot starchier than potatoes so you can add more milk, if you want, depending on your preferred texture.

Scoop into a bowl and serve. I added another pat of butter because again, why not? Mashed yuca is great. Like I said, it's basically the same as mashed potatoes and what's bad about that? I actually used the leftovers to make fritters (which I'll be sharing next week) and those were great too. I'm excited to see what else I can do with yuca. It's such a cool ingredient.

Here's the recipe page: