Stewed/Braised

1. Melt a few tablespoons of butter or butter and olive oil in a Dutch oven or a deep, heavy pan on the stove, using medium heat. Dredge the beef tips in flour and season them to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2. Brown the beef until golden and caramelized, about 4 or 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add bell peppers and onions, sliced into 3/4- to 1-inch strips or squares.

3. Add secondary flavoring ingredients to the pan. Try sliced garlic, chopped chili peppers and smashed ginger if you want to go bold, or add chopped carrots and celery for subtle flavors that work well in stew.

4. Sprinkle a tablespoon or so of flour over the primary and secondary flavoring ingredients. Saute the ingredients until browned and fragrant with a slight nutty aroma, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Deglaze the pan with a 1/2 cup or so of red wine, stock or water and cook until it reduces to au sec, or nearly dry. Pour enough cooking liquid into the pan to cover everything. Stock, wine or a combination of the two works fine.

6. Add herbs and whole spices to the pan. Thyme sprigs, sprigs of rosemary and black peppercorns tie the other flavors in the braise or stew together nicely.

7. Season the cooking liquid to taste with kosher salt and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Braise the beef tips for about 1 1/2 hours and add any finishing ingredients, such as mushrooms or rice.

8. Continue braising until the finishing ingredients cook through, about 30 minutes, then taste. Adjust the seasoning as needed with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and serve.

Grilling

1. Take the beef tips out of the refrigerator about 45 minutes before you grill them so you can thread them onto skewers and let them warm up. Soak wood skewers in water for 30 minutes.

2. Thread the beef tips on 10-inch wooden skewers, spacing each piece about 1/2 inch apart. Thread 1-inch pieces of bell peppers and onions -- along with any other vegetables, such as mushrooms or tomatoes -- on separate 10-inch skewers, spacing each piece about 1/4 inch apart. Don't skewer beef and vegetables on the same skewers; they cook at different rates and should cook separately. Alternate the vegetables in the same order on each skewer so they cook at the same rate; for example, pepper-onion-pepper-onion, or pepper-mushroom-onion-pepper-mushroom-onion.

3. Season the beef with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Coat the vegetables and beef skewers with oil.

4. Set up a two-zone indirect/direct fire on the grill. If you have a barbecue grill, light a layer of charcoal in the tray and push it to one side when it ashes over; if you have a gas grill, ignite the burners on one side only and set them to medium-high.

5. Lay the beef and vegetable skewers on the direct-heat side of the grill. Grill the vegetables until cooked through, about 6 or 7 minutes, rotating the skewers every couple of minutes. Move the vegetable skewers to the indirect side of the grill while the beef skewers finish cooking.

6. Grill the beef skewers for about 8 minutes total for medium-rare and about 10 minutes total for medium. Rotate the beef skewers every 1 or 2 minutes. You can insert the tip of a digital thermometer in a beef tip to check the temperature if you like; medium-rare is between 125 and 130 Fahrenheit, and medium is between 130 and 140 F.

7. Serve the beef and vegetables off the skewers on a bed of rice or other starch, or serve them as is.

Roasted

1. Heat the oven to 350 F. Chop the onions and bell peppers and coat them in oil. Place the vegetables in a shallow dish and season them to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2. Season the beef tips to taste and coat them with a thin layer of oil. Place the beef tips on top of the bell peppers and onions and place the dish in the oven.

3. Roast the beef and veggies for 15 minutes, then stir. Roast the beef tips an additional 5 minutes for medium-rare, and another 10 minutes for medium. Take the beef and veggies from the oven and serve.