Braised beef with mushroom pie

Braised bitter beer beef
1.2kg of braising beef, chopped into 200g slices - sea salt to season - 1 dash of vegetable oil - 6 carrots, peeled - 3 small onions, cut into halves - 1 garlic clove - 1 bay leaf - 1 sprig of fresh thyme - 10g of sugar - 125ml of bottle of red wine - 75ml of red wine vinegar - 200ml of bitter beer - 1.14l of beef stock - 1 Tsp of cornflour - 1 dash of gravy browning - 1 handful of chives, chopped
Mushroom pies
24 button mushrooms, sliced thinly - 1 shallot, finely diced - 1 dash of vegetable oil - 25g of butter - 25g of plain flour - 600ml of milk, hot - 1 bay leaf - 25g of green peppercorns - 2 handfuls of parsley - sea salt to season - 12 puff pastry, cut circles - 1 egg

1.For the braised beef, season with salt and brown the beef in oil in a pan until golden brown all over
2.Add the peeled carrots and halved onions to the pan
3.Sprinkle in the sugar and allow the beef and vegetables to caramelise
4.Remove the meat and vegetables from the pan and deglaze the pan with the red wine vinegar followed by red wine
5.Place the meat, vegetables and sprig of thyme back into the pan. Add the bitter beer next, bring the liquid to the boil and then add the stock. Cook this for about 1 3/4 hours at 160ºC until very tender
6.Remove the beef, lift out the carrots and onions carefully and set aside. Pass the remaining liquid through a sieve and boil in a pan until it reaches a sauce consistency. If necessary, add a few drops of cornflour to thicken, or gravy browning to colour
7.For the pie, fry off the button mushrooms in a few drops of oil until golden
8.Add the shallots and stir for about 15 seconds until golden, then remove from the heat and scrape onto a plate. Set aside
9.In a thick bottomed pan add the butter and leave to melt. Stir in the flour and make a roux base
10.On a low heat, add the hot milk (making sure the bay leaf has been removed) incrementally, and stir in well each time
11.When all the milk has been incorporated, add the mushrooms, peppercorns, parsley and season with sea salt. Take off the heat and allow to cool
12.Place the mix into small pie dishes, place the puff pastry on top and make a small hole. Brush the pastry with egg wash and heat in an oven set to 350ºF (175ºC) for 15 minutes
13.Serve the beef with the onions and carrots, a little of the beer sauce and accompany with the mushroom pie. Garnish with a sprinkling of chives