Marsha Mason's Chicken and Fruit

from the Dark Shadows Celebrity Cookbook

 Since I am fond of chicken and am also a great lover of fruit, I was drawn to Marsha Mason's Chicken And Fruit recipe from the Dark Shadows Celebrity Cookbook.  A key ingredient is duck sauce, and although not a Chinese dish, it was a bit of a culinary adventure putting this  together. Chicken pieces are seasoned with lemon pepper, buttered, and broiled just until

brown.  Next, a rather luxurious array of sliced peaches, apricots, and dark cherries are piled onto the chicken.  Thin slices of onion are scattered on top and then covered with the duck sauce.  The assembled dish is baked for about an about an hour.  Ms. Mason suggests serving the chicken with brown rice and a green salad, always a good combination for a healthy dinner.  I did just that and was impressed with how succulent, tender, and tasty the chicken was after cooking under the blanket of soft sweet fruits.  Since the duck sauce is peach based and mildly sweet and tart, it created a wonderful and piquant pan sauce to spoon over the chicken.  I thoroughly enjoyed this colorful and rather different recipe and look forward to making it again, perhaps for guests.  It was easy to prepare and not rich or high in fat.  Now it is indeed interesting to consider that this came from the recipe box of Audrey the vampire, so it tells us more about what she was up to.  We all know that witches are usually good cooks, but Dark Shadows cooking certainly reveals that vampires and werewolves seem to have a deft hand in the kitchen as well.  Perhaps the next edition could be called "The Vampire Chef; Favorite Recipes from Dark Shadows Fiends, Friends,

and Fans."