Peppers in Vinegar

Do you like two-ingredient recipes? I do. I'll let you guess what's in Chiles preserved in Vinegar.

This will typically be made with hot peppers like chiltepins, chile pequin, cayenne, chile de arbol and other small, very spicy chiles. The process can't be more simple: put the peppers in the vinegar. The longer they sit, the more infused the vinegar will become. 

Of course, you have options here. Apart from the type of pepper, you can choose your vinegar. I'd suggest apple cider vinegar for a lightly sweet condiment, or distilled white vinegar for a traditional, classic flavor. Red or white wine vinegars will impart their own flavors and colors, as will rice wine vinegar. 

As the chile vinegar gets depleted, you can top it off with fresh vinegar, too. This will keep pretty much indefinitely.

Charred and Frozen Peppers

This is even more simple than preserving peppers in vinegar. With my mom's side of the family hailing from New Mexico, Hatch chiles have been an important purchase of any visit to the Land of Enchantment. When there out of season, I'd simply buy charred and frozen peppers, thawing and peeling them as needed.

Just char the peppers over a hot, direct fire, turning often until lightly charred all over, then package and freeze. I use plastic half-pint containers, which is a very appropriate portion size for both the jalapeños and Hatch/Anaheims that I prefer to preserve this way. You could also char any sweet or hot pepper and freeze them in this manner.