Don’t forget: Hanukkah is just around the corner—the first candle gets lit tomorrow at sundown. Chef Ignacio at Aviva Senior Living knows a thing or two about preparing latkes, both for small family and mega holiday gatherings. Below is his recipe along with some tips and tricks for a delicious and crispy Hanukkah treat.

Ingredients: 1 lb starchy potatoes (Aviva prefers Yellow Idaho Potatoes); 1 Tbsp. flour; ½ cup chopped onion; 1 large egg, lightly beaten; ½ to 1 tsp. of Kosher seasoning salt; ¼ kosher olive oil or canola oil. Accompaniments: sour cream and applesauce.

Directions: Preheat oven to 250°F. Peel and coarsely grate potatoes and transfer to a large bowl of cold water to soak. Once you have finished grating your potatoes, soak an additional 1–2 minutes. Drain well in a colander. Lightly oil a saucepan and sauté onions. Stir constantly until caramelized. Remove from heat and let the onions rest. Spread grated potatoes in cheesecloth and twist tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible. Gently toss potato with the flour and caramelized onions into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the egg and kosher seasoning salt until well blended. If you feel that your mixture is too thin, mix in an additional tablespoon of flour. Heat ¼ cup oil in a large nonstick skillet over moderately high heat. Aim for “hot” not “smoking hot.” As needed, add more oil to the skillet for every new latke batch. Place two heaping spoonfuls of potato mixture into skillet and form the latke by spreading into 3-inch rounds with the back of the spoon. Reduce heat to medium and cook each side approximately five minutes or until each side of the latke has been browned. Place latkes on paper towels to drain and season with kosher salt to taste. Keep latkes warm in the oven until ready to serve. For best results, set oven to warm and place latkes on a wire rack set in a shallow baking pan. Serve with generous amounts of applesauce and sour cream.

Chef Ignacio’s Tips and Tricks:

- Be bold! Try new flavors in your latkes like curry, smoked salmon, Parmesan, kosher chili-lime seasoning salt or smoked paprika.

- Add a few tablespoons of beet juice as an all-natural (Kosher) food dye that children of all ages can enjoy.

- Latkes can be made up to eight hours in advance. Preheat oven to 350°F and place desired amount of latkes on a rack set over a baking sheet for roughly five minutes.

-Did “Jew” know that soaking your grated potatoes in cold water helps prevent them from browning? Now you do.

To provide latkes for nearly 300 residents at Kobernick, Aviva’s resort-style Independent Living community, Chef Ignacio prepares 58 cups of peeled and shredded potatoes and 87 beaten eggs in his signature latke recipe.

Aviva, A Campus for Senior Life