Lauren Maisel has been watching her dad cook since she was five—when her parents divorced. She lived with her mom and visited her dad, Leon. “Dad always had better food,” she says. “ It was a treat to hang out with him in his kitchen—so aromatic and fun. He’s such an adventurous cook. I’ve never seen him use a recipe. He’d often take me to wonderful restaurants in Baton Rouge and New Orleans when I was a child and if he really liked a dish we ate, he’d teach himself to make it at home and his version would be better.”

Lauren’s grown now and cooking with her dad remains one of her favorite pastimes. She pays more attention these days to exactly how he makes his“secret” family recipes. “Most of my friends are foodies and they know anything I cook for them, I learned from my dad,” she said. “They try to guess how each dish is done.”

Tonight, I’m in Leon Maisel’s loft-like kitchen in Daphne, with Lauren standing at the spacious cooking island next to her dad’s stove, chopping leeks. Leon’s border terrier, Larry, is curled up in a nearby chair and soothing music plays in the background. Outside, the moon is almost full and it lends a silvery sheen to the tree branches in the dark. Leon has graciously agreed to let me witness the creation of this one recipe. He directs Lauren in the proper way to curl her fingers when she chops to keep them out of the way of the knife blade.

“In the ‘70s,” Leon explains, “I was on the Atkins diet and I craved potatoes which were taboo.” “I tried to think what I could substitute; I knew I liked turnips so I decided to try them in Vichyssoise.” A health bonus of turnips is that they have no carbohydrates, they’re good for arthritis and gout, and they’re a useful protector against cancer. A turnip cooked in milk was an old remedy for arthritis.

Lauren follows her dad’s directions until she’s added all the ingredients and pureed the soup in his favorite copper pot. Leon has cherished that pot for sixteen years since he bought it on a whim in Paris.

We got our first taste of the soup when her dad ladled it, hot, into ceramic bowls. We immediately forgot about setting the table for a proper meal and we sat at the counter murmuring a collective “yum” between long, luxurious sips until our bowls were empty.

For more information on suggesting recipes and local cooks for a “Passing the Spoon” feature, email Cynthia Rush at foodie@gulfcoastnewspapers.com.

Leon Maisel’s Turnip Vichyssoise

Serves 8, hot or cold. Keeps 3 days in refrigerator.

3 medium turnips. 4 cups cut in cubes. Heat turnips in chicken stock and boil until soft, 25–30 mins.

Wash 2 leeks and cut lengthwise, use only white parts.

1 tablespoon heavy cream

½ cup Half & Half

Melt butter for sautéing leeks with a little olive oil to prevent browning.

4 garlic cloves minced

Saute leeks with salt and pepper, 6 – 8 minutes, until they’re wilted and look clarified. Cook on low so they don’t burn.

Puree all together.

Add ½ teaspoon sugar.

Pour 1 cup Half & Half and 1 cup heavy cream into puree.

Add 1tablespoon butter. Stir to get gloss on soup.

Stir in juice of 1 small lemon.

Swirl a circle of Truffle Oil on top of soup before serving.