Mickey Gilley's Luckenbach Peach Chicken

A few years ago, Kris got me one of the best presents I have ever received for Christmas - Mickey Gilley's Texas Cook Book. Mickey wrote it in the early 80's, riding the wave of the success from the movie Urban Cowboy.

Urban Cowboy is one of my all time favorite movies. I view it more as a comedy, of course. After all, I don't know many funnier lines in movie dialaogue history than Bud (John Travolta) saying:

"All cowboys ain't dumb. Some of 'em got smarts real good, like me."

But I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't think this movie was actually pretty good. As hard as it is to fake an English accent, it's as hard or harder to pull off a believable southern one. And John and Debra Winger were as believable as rednecks as the real life "kickers" cruising their Dodges and Fords through Sonic parking lots all throughout Texas this very moment.

Anyway, here's my first recipe I've ever made from Mickey's cookbook, with only a couple of 'uptown' (as the character Pam would say) embellishments on my part. "Canned peaches?" you ask. "Hell yeah", as Bud would say.

Luckenbach Peach Chicken

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch red pepper flakes (not original but a nice addition)
1 (16) oz can peach halves in heavy syrup
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese (not original but a nice addition)
1/4 cup chopped green onions (not original but a nice additon)
handful toasted pine nuts (not original...)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Place chicken breasts in a greased 2 inch deep casserole dish and dust with seasonings. Bake for 10 minutes. Pour half of peach syrup over chicken and bake for another 15 minutes. Place remainder of syrup and peach halves over chicken. Sprinkle crumbled goat cheese over and bake another 10 minutes. Raise heat to 400, move to highest rack in oven and bake 5-10 minutes more, until goat cheese just begins to brown and juice is bubbling.

Remove and sprinkle with green onions and pine nuts.