Time: 7 hours

This is true comfort food and although it does take some time to make, it will have you swaying to some fabulous jazz and singing along…

Music Selection: Si tu vois ma mere (Sidney Bechet) – Avalon Jazz Band

Ingredients:

2 ½ lbs chuck beef, cut in ½ inch cubes

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, finely chopped

2 celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and in ¼ inch coins

¼ cup flour

3 Tbsp cornstarch

½ cup water

12 oz dark ale

2 cups beef stock

5 – 6 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 package of bacon (8 oz)

13 oz button or swiss brown mushrooms (or mix), cut in 1/2

2 sheets puff pastry

1 egg

Directions:

Option 1 (crockpot) – place meat, onion, garlic, ale, beef broth, thyme and bay leaves in crockpot. Cover and cook for 6 hours.

Option 2 (stove top) – Toss beef with ¼ cup of flour. In large pot, fry the beef in some oil until brown. Add the onion and garlic and fry until translucent. Add broth, ale, thyme and bay leaves. Cover and cook for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In large baking pan (I like to use a lasagna pan), place the carrots, mushrooms (which I cut in half) and celery. Toss with the ¼ cup flour. Salt/pepper.

In meantime, cook the bacon (fry or in oven) until crispy. Let cool and cut into bacon bit size. Add to the carrots, mushrooms and celery.

Make a slurry of the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and mix slowly into the beef while it is still hot in crockpot or on stove. Whisk so it thickens without lumps. Salt/pepper to taste. It should be like a thin gravy. Pour over the vegetables and mix so it is well combined.

Place the puff pastry dough together and on a floured surface, roll out the dough to be about ½ inch larger than the baking pan. Place over the vegetables so the puff pastry hangs a little over the edge. Pinch it around the edge. Place on a large cookie sheet.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg and brush it on the puff pastry.

Place baking pan and cookie sheet in oven and bake the pie for about 25 minutes until it is puffy and golden brown. Let cool a little and serve with a side salad. Enjoy!