This is a simple but elegant dish from the late, lamented Corinne Dunbar's Restaurant, once a bastion of 19th Century Creole elegance.

1-1/2 pounds veal sweetbreads, cleaned
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 stick (4 ounces) butter
1/2 cup Madeira wine

Brown sauce:
1-1/2 sticks (6 ounces) butter
6 tablespoons flour
2 cups beef stock
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

Blanch the sweetbreads in simmering water for approximately 10 minutes. Drain, and allow to cool. Make the brown sauce by melting the butter and stirring in the flour. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the roux turns a medium brown, about 15-20 minutes. Add the stock, salt and pepper to taste, depending on the seasoning in the stock.

Slice the cooked sweetbreads in half. Dip them in 1 cup of flour seasoned with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper (you may add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne as well), and then in the eggs. Immediately saute the sweetbreads in the stick of butter and brown both sides. Drain half the butter from the pan, and place the sweetbreads and remaining butter into a hot, 475F oven for 5 minutes. Drain the remaining butter.

Add half of the Madeira (1/4 cup) and 1 cup of the brown sauce to the sweetbreads and bring to a boil. Pour in the remainder of the Madeira, head and flame. Add the rest of the brown sauce, heat and serve. Yield: 6 servings.