ILOVE this dish and it reminds me so much of my childhood. My mum would make beef stew in the slow cooker and she would make more than was needed.

She would put the left-overs in the fridge and two days later would make a beef and ale pie by wrapping the left-over stew in puff pastry and baking it in the oven.

Mum made hers with Guinness, but I have made mine with Local Jurassic ale from the Dorset Brewing Company.

It is fantastic, not only to drink but to cook with as well, It’s full of body and soul.

This is my mum’s wonderful recipe and I feel it right to share it with you.

This recipe won the Pie of the Year award when I was at Four Seasons Hotel in Hampshire.

Thanks mum and happy Easter!

Ingredients: 1 kg beef chuck steak (diced) 2 large carrots (peeled and diced) 2 large onions (peeled and diced) 2 sticks celery (washed and diced) 300g button mushrooms (washed and quartered) 750ml DBC Jurassic ale 5 tbspn Flour 1 bouquet garni 1 tbspn smoked paprika 3 tbspn rapeseed oil Puff pastry Method: Season the steak with salt, pepper and paprika. Roll the meat in the flour and dust off the excess.

In a heavy bottomed frying pan heat the rapeseed oil to just smoking and add the meat and fry until a nice roasted colour is achieved.

Drain off the oil from the meat and discard.

In the same pan fry off the vegetables with a little more rapeseed oil until nicely coloured.

Drain and set aside with the meat.

Add the Jurassic ale to the pans and boil, scraping until the pan is clean.

Place the beef and vegetables into a braising pan and add the ale from the pans. Add the bouquet garni.

Make sure that the ale covers the beef by about 2cms, if not add more ale or water.

Cover the meat with a lid and bring to the boil and braise in an oven at 180C for approx two hours, or until the meat is tender.

Remove from the oven, season and chill.

Take your pie mould and line with puff pastry with an overlap on the sides.

Fill with mix and brush the sides with egg yolk with a pitch of salt (this makes the best egg wash you have ever seen!).

Place puff pastry lid on top and press with fork around the edges.

Brush with egg yolk seasoned with salt and bake in a fan-assisted oven at 200C for 25 mins.

Serve with mash potato and local seasonal vegetables.