Closing Out the First Thrifty Week of 2015 #2 ~ Breakfast from New Orleans - Brennan's

Breakfast from New Orleans, published in 1994.  Over 200+ recipes from the grand New Orleans institution whose name is synonymous with brunch. Brennan's was founded in 1946 by Owen Brennan who also owned the Old Absinthe House, which coincidentally could be found across the street from the location of the first Brennan's restaurant. Two culinary favorites were invented at Brennan's - Bananas Foster and Eggs Hussarde and both dishes appear in the book. (++the restaurant uses 35k pounds of bananas annually in making the highly popular dessert++).

The current location of Brennan's (on Royal Street) opened in 1956 and is still a mecca for visitors to the Crescent City.  The restaurant is run by the Brennan family and expanded to Houston, Dallas and Atlanta in the 1970s & 1980's. As part of the expansion, the family also purchased the Commander's Palace restaurant in New Orleans - another venerable institution. Due to in-family squabbling, the Atlanta and Dallas locations were shuttered. In the end, Owen's sister Eileen Brennan took charge of Commander's Palace, leaving Owen's sons his legacy of Brennan's.

After that brief history lesson, we will now focus on the recipes! All the dishes reflect the French Creole cuisine that made Brennan's renown in both New Orleans and around the globe. As always, appetizers start out the recipes with many crab and oyster variations, followed by soups & sauces, salads & dressings, breakfast treats and sides - including the infamous Oyster Loaf (which I miss dearly and can never really duplicate at home). Entrees feature many varieties of seafood, duck, quail, chicken, pork, lamb, veal and beef. Of course the last chapter contains many "beverage" recipes (most if not all involve alcohol) and there is a dessert section with aforementioned Bananas Foster, beignets and crepes.