Avoid those that are limp, shriveled or that have soft or bruised spots. Store Sweet Peppers in a plastic bag in the refrigerator up to a week. Chile peppers may be wrapped in a paper towel and refrigerated up to two weeks. Peppers may be frozen or canned for longer storage. Hot peppers may also be dried.
Peppers brighten menus in many ways.
Raw, they make a delightful addition to salads and relish trays. The heat in chilies is concentrated in the interior veins or ribs near the seed heart, not in the seeds themselves. The seeds taste extra hot because they 're in close contact with the veins. The heat comes from a colorless, odorless substance called capsaicin. As a general rule, the smaller the chile, the hotter they are, because proportionately they contain more seeds and veins than larger chilies.