• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
• 2 mild onions, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons butter (no compromise here)
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup potato water
• 3 cups rich scalded milk
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives if possible

Stew the onions gently in one-half the butter for 15 minutes. Add the potatoes and cover with a small amount of water, about 2 cups. Cook gently until tender. Drain, saving 1 cup of the water, and put the vegetables through a strainer. [A fine strainer. I notice increasingly that most average cooks, of which or whom I am one, grow careless about sieves and strainers. They usually compromise, after a few years in the kitchen, with one general-utility implement that will cope more or less with their normal duties. Tut, tut, tut! (Shall go to the hardware store tomorrow... no, today!)]

Make a roux of the remaining butter and the flour, add the potato water and the seasoning, and stir in the scalded milk. Combine this mixture with the strained vegetables and heat thoroughly, beating with an eggbeater for several minutes. Add the chopped herbs and serve at once. (Or chill and serve next day as vichysoisse.)