Beef and Guiness Pie

just clearing out my crazy collection of recipe links and will be putting some recipes in here.
i'm pretty sure i made this last winter and it was delicious, taken from here. you can easily do the filling in the slow cooker (which i'm sure is what i did)

INGREDIENTS:
6 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
2 onions, halved and sliced
225g medium size chestnut or button mushrooms, cut into quarters
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1kg braising steak/chuck steak/stewing steak/casserole steak ( whatever you want to call it lol ), trimmed of fat and cut into 2.5cm chunks
5 tbsp plain flour seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
500ml Guinness
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

( 6 strips of bacon is optional ---very tasty though , also optional is a third cup of sultanas )

PREPARATION:
1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large, oven-proof casserole dish and gently fry the onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft. Remove the vegetables from the pan and place in a large bowl.

2. Place the seasoned flour in a bowl and toss the meat in it, a handful at a time. Heat a little more oil in the pan and fry the flour-coated chunks of meat over a medium-high heat until browned on all sides. Do this in batches, coating each new batch of meat in the flour and adding more oil to the pan when needed. Transfer the browned meat to the onion and mushroom bowl while you fry the rest.

3. When all the meat is browned, return everything to the casserole dish and pour over the Guinness. Add the bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer very gently, partially covered for 1� to 2 hours or until the meat is tender and the sauce slightly thickened. Alternatively, you can cook in a 170C/325F/gas mark 3 oven for the same amount of time. Check the liquid level occasionally to make sure it doesn�t become too dry, adding a little water if necessary.

4. When cooked, remove from the heat and tip the mixture into a wide baking dish, at least 5cm deep. Allow to cool to room temperature or store in the fridge.

5. Roll out the pastry and cut out 6 circles, each about 10cm in diameter, and lay them on the beef mixture so they overlap slightly. Brush with the beaten egg.

6. When ready to bake and serve, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and cook for 30 minutes or until the pastry is risen and golden and the pie heated through.