It hit me like a stroke of genius…mini turnovers! Sometimes I feel stuck trying to brainstorm on what to make next and it was a rush of inspiration once I received the newest beer from Stone Brewing Co., the Hibiscusicity. It’s a hibiscus beer (I can’t seem to get away from them, not that I would want to because I love hibiscus) made Belgian Golden Ale style with hibiscus flower and orange peel. It’s pours with a pinkish hue and strong head retention, with a slight candy tartness finish. It practically screamed at me to reduce this beer with some fruit and make some sort of tart or pie. I just noticed my buddy Greg at OC Beer Blog posted his tasting notes here!

Opting to go the more adventurous route, I dived-in to making turnovers. I have never made turnovers before, but how hard could it be really?

Lucky for me I had my trusty Owen & Fred “You Earned It” heavy-duty bottle opener to help me crack-open my beer. Yes, bottle opener, I really did earn it. Thanks for noticing. The lovely people at Owen & Fred has authorized me to run a GIVEAWAY for a kick-ass “you earned it” bottle opener so post a comment on this post about how you earned your beers by Friday at 5pm PST for a chance to win one of your own! Winner will be announced on the following Monday. Only US residents can enter for shipping purposes. Sorry international fans!

This bottle opener has received a lot of compliments and people love the look and weighty feel of it. It’s actually solid brass! It’s about a 1/2 pound so compared to your sad plastic novelty bottle openers, it will last a long time, beer after beer. I used and abuse this opener during recent bottle shares and even the #BBC14 and it’s still going strong-looking like the day it was received in the mail.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 1/4 cups of AP Flour (I used Whole Wheat Flour from King Arthur Flour)

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 unsalted butter (1 stick)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup ice water (use 1 tablespoon at a time)

Filling:

1 cup fresh pomegranate juice (either store-bought or by blending pomegranate seeds in a food processor and straining…it took about 4 pomegranates)

1 cup beer

2 cups of raspberries (fresh or frozen works)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

Topping of the turnovers:

Non-stick butter spray

Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Make the dough in advance. You will need it to be cooled enough to roll out without losing the integrity of the dough. Combine the flour, salt, sugar and mix. Cut the cold butter into cubes. You can either now mix together with your hands or use a food processor. Add water until the mixture comes together just enough. If it’s too dry it will crack and if it’s too wet it will not hold the liquid.

2. Plastic wrap your dough and place in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.

3. Place your beer, pomegranate juice, sugar and raspberries in a skillet and simmer on low for 30 minutes. Mixture should be relatively thick. Allow to cool completely before covering in plastic and placing in the fridge for at least 1 hour to overnight. I opted to make the dough and the filling the night before making the turnovers.

4. Heat your oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out your dough on a floured surface and cut into oval shapes. Think of the dough as an eye that you need to blink. After you have cut out your shapes, try to form a half-pocket by pinching the sides together on one side and then dropping in the filling out of the open end, then closing the open end up last. That’s the best way I have found, as opposed to folding over the whole thing at once. The filling doesn’t want to stay when you do that. Trust me, I made a mess. Finalize them by pressing the edges with a fork for an extra tight seal.

5. Once you have your turnovers filled, spray with your butter spray or brush with milk and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar. Bake for about 17-20 minutes. Once the edges are browned, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm with ice cream or a good beer, or both. No judgement here.

These turnovers were small but packed a satisfying tart punch with the filling. The dough was flaky and crunchy, just like it should be. It wasn’t overly sweet because I used fresh pomegranate juice and that stuff is tart! This beer alone was delicious but I would like to think I made it extra special with the turnovers. Let me know if you make these and how they turned out!

Don’t forget to comment for your chance to win this awesome bottle opener!