Potage purée Crécy à la Briarde (carrot soup)

Mise en place: slice the carrots and onion, have a branch of thyme, measure the butter and crème fraîche, salt and sugar, and cut the potatoes into small cubes.

Melt the butter on medium to low heat without burning it.

Add the onions, then the carrots at once, with a little salt and a pinch of sugar; mix.

Keep the heat very low so nothing colours; the onion must not brown. Cover and cook five minutes to sweat the vegetables in the butter, a tiny drop of water optional to create steam.

Add one litre of cold water, then the potatoes.

Bring to a gentle simmer, not a boil; cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes from when it simmers, depending on the thickness of the carrots.

Meanwhile make croutons: in a pan with a tablespoon of oil and one of butter, gently cook small pieces of baguette until golden; drain on a paper towel and reserve.

Check doneness: a fork should crush the potato, and the carrots must be very tender.

Remove the thyme and blend the soup with a stick blender at medium speed.

Whisk in crème fraîche a tablespoon or two at a time to the consistency wanted, tasting.

Pass the soup through a fine mesh sieve into another container for a perfectly smooth soup.

Stir in a knob of butter and rewarm gently.

Serve in a plate garnished with croutons and a few coriander leaves.