how do you prepare peppers that are placed in bottles of some type of liquid, oil or vinegar, seen in restaura

Question

most times these bottles are on display in restaurants, sitting on shelves. i'm not sure whether it's like balsmic. i just can't put into words what i am trying to say.

Answer 1

I'm not sure if you are talking about the bottles on display- or the one's brought to the table in some southern states. Either way, the preservation method is much the same. You can preserve any hot pepper in vinegar of whatever sort you like, white or cider, or whatever- though the white vinegar would be prettier in the finished product. When I was young, my grandmother and mother would wash peppers, prick them with a darning needle, and then drop them in a sterilized jar to fill. When it was full of peppers, they would simply pour hot vinegar in to fill the bottle, screw on the cap and set it aside for two or three weeks. The peppers get pickled and add heat to the vinegar, which acts to preserve them whole. If you want less heat, you simply remove the seed and white membrane that holds them on the sides of the pepper inside. The more seeds and membrane you remove, the less heat you end up with. You can add commercially available pickling spices to the vinegar if you wish. You can also make a hot pepper sauce by blenderizing the peppers with salt and vinegar in a blender or food processor, adding salt to taste and vinegar necessary to make it liquid enough to dribble and drop. If you want, you can filter out the solids left behind, or you can simply bottle it up as it is. Tobasco is made in this manner.
We always used raw peppers, straight from the garden, and just washed in the sink. We usually put up jalapenos and tiny red chilis my grandmother called bird eye's. Don't know why they were called that- but brother they were hot. If you do decide to put up peppers, be sure to wear gloves and keep your hands away from your face. Once the peppers are pickled, they do look a little lighter in color, and you can use the vinegar or peppers separately. Grandma used to top up the vinegar as it was used- but this tended to make it less hot as time went on. Pepper vinegar would start out horrendously hot in October, and by May it would be rather mild. I started eating in in late March, myself- sooner than that was a bit much for me.