Key work going into beer and meat dish (8)
I believe the answer is:
escalope
'meat dish' is the definition.
(I know that escalope is a type of meat dish)
'key work going into beer' is the wordplay.
'key' becomes 'esc' ('Escape' key on a computer keyboard).
'work' becomes 'op' (short for opus).
'going into' is an insertion indicator.
'beer' becomes 'ale' (type of beer).
'op' put within 'ale' is 'alope'.
'esc'+'alope'='ESCALOPE'
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for escalope that I've seen before include "Cut of meat" , "Thin slice of boneless veal" , "what might feature in the catering" , "F" , "food" .)