Sorry folks, I hadn't seen this post in a couple of days and thought it didn't look appatizing enough to get any comments. Here's how we prepare the Texas Rockets:
1. Take a paring knife and cut from just under the cap to just before the tip of the pepper.
2. Take a small measuring spoon, 1/4 tsp works well for me, and scoop out
ALL of the seeds and other stuff inside. Peppers carry a majority of their heat in the seeds, so if you don't get them out you might have the burning ring of fire the next day.
3. Bring a pot of water large enough to hold all the peppers to rolling boil. Blanche the peppers for about 2 minutes in the boiling water. This will help soften them up which makes stuffing them easier. It also gets a bit more of the heat out of the pepper. Take the peppers out and sit them on a plate to allow them to cool. This part is important, get rid of the water in the pot quickly, it will continue to steam for a bit and everyone in the house will look like they have been in the gas chamber, and no Cajun, that's not the area just under your blankets at night.
4. While the peppers are cooling, mix up a batch of cream cheese, shredded cheddar and some season salt into a nice soft paste.
5. Once the peppers are cool, use a small spoon to fill the peppers to about 3/4 full of the stuffing.
6. For wrapping the bacon around them, I usually take the bacon and stretch each slice out so it's easier to use. I start just below the stem and wrap the bacon around the length of the pepper and try to end up with the other end about the same place as the first end was. Now use a toothpick or two, right through the bacon and the open side of the pepper to hold it all together. They are now ready to grill.
I cook on a large charcoal grill with all the coals on one side. I put the rockets on the top rack on the other side with a foil bowl below them to catch the grease so there isn't such a mess to clean up later. I put them on as soon as the grill is hot and let them slow cook while most of the rest of the food is cooking. Toward the end of the cooking I will start rotating them over to the coal side a few at a time to crisp up the bacon a bit. Don't put to many over the coals at once or you will have a heck of a grease fire and crispy black rockets. I agree that you should try to get them finished before it's time to eat the main dish, that way you have something to munch on.
I usually accompany these with grilled whole mushrooms. The recipe is easy. Take a box of large fresh mushrooms and shake them around in a bowl with some olive oil until they are all well coated. Sprinkle them with some season salt and then place them away from the coals top down and let them slow roast while everything else is cooking. I usually cook them until they are about 1/2 - 3/4 the size they started out. I usually eat one or two each time I open the grill also, so we usually need more than one box of mushrooms.
Enjoy!!
Bill
