Russin makes creamiest peanut butter pie

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Priest John Russin is seen with his peanut butter pie. (Photo: Enoch
Wu/Sentinel-Tribune)

Father John Russin is well aware
that man does not live on bread alone.If it’s not too irreverent a deliberate misquotation, we might assume
he agrees that pie must be included in the mix.The pastry in question is a delectably creamy peanut butter
pie that is the product of much enthusiastic experimentation on the part of the Bowling Green clergyman
turned home health care provider."My wife complains that as soon as I perfect something, I never make
it again," Russin said, admitting that it’s the culinary challenge he really enjoys.Russin lives right
across the street from Dr. Nathan Crook, the cultural anthropologist and assistant professor at Bowling
Green State University who just authored the book "A Culinary History of the Great Black Swamp: Buckeye
Candy, Bratwurst and Apple Butter."The book includes a treasure trove of recipes from this region,
including two of Crook’s own favorites, pierogies and sauerkraut balls, which were featured in the Cook’s
Corner on Nov. 5.Russin’s peanut butter pie recipe also made it into the pages of "A Culinary
History…" and today is his turn in the spotlight.The book makes a great Christmas present for those
wanting to celebrate northwest Ohio’s unique food heritage. It can be purchased at several local outlets,
including Calico, Sage and Thyme; Grounds for Thought; and the Wood County Historical Museum, all in Bowling
Green; both Books-A-Million and Fort Meigs in Perrysburg; Beeker’s General Store in Pemberville; and the
Barnes and Noble store at Fallen Timbers in Maumee, where it is also available as an e-book as well as via
Amazon and Apple’s ibookstore.Russin, a Pennsylvania native and devoted Steelers fan, was one of the first
people in the country to earn a bachelor’s degree as a physician assistant. "I was part of the fourth
class ever. PA’s weren’t well known. Some physicians didn’t trust them, some had never heard of
them."Eventually, Russin realized he had a calling in a different direction and he entered a Russian
Orthodox seminary-monastery in the Poconos, where he became the choir director while still a
seminarian."I was a choir director in various parishes before I decided to be ordained a priest."
His most recent parish was in a coal-mining district first settled by Russian immigrant coal-miners
"but now the population has decreased, the mines are closing" and the parish closed as well.He and
his wife moved to Bowling Green where she took a job in the medical office of her sister, Dr. Elizabeth
Horrigan. Meanwhile Russin negotiated the career switch into home health care, "then nursing homes, and
now a rehab facility."He finds it a creative way of fulfilling the gospel.A side benefit of the job is
that "I’m also able to cook. It’s not the primary task; we all cook at the facility and we all do
patient care (but) I enjoy cooking for them. It’s all home-cooked meals."Russin says his own mother was
a wonderful cook "but she never really left any recipes. It took me 20 years to figure out how she made
her chocolate pie."The quest for a perfect peanut butter pie also took decades."A number of years
ago I worked as waiter at a restaurant in Syracuse, New York. They were famous for their peanut butter pie.
As I remember, it was very simple. A packaged graham cracker crust, peanut butter, whipped cream."Years
later I got a hankering for it, so I researched."The original recipe – wherever I got it from – called
for butter and cream cheese, way too much of both. When I made it all you could taste was the butter, and I
didn’t want to taste the butter; it’s a peanut butter pie" after all."So I ended up halving
everything. Now you can’t taste the butter or the cream cheese." The ingredients blend in
perfection.Russin’s secret to achieving the creamy filling? "I used an electric mixer, a stand mixer. I
mixed it for eight minutes, so it got nice and fluffy."When Russin sent a peanut butter pie to the
medical office with his wife, "it came back with rave reviews.""One of the doctors mentioned
how much he liked the crust. It is a thicker crust" than usual. "It seems to balance the
filling."Besides his baking, Russin loves to make "Russian ethnic foods – borscht, cabbage and
noodles, pierogies. My grandmother is Ukrainian and Canadian."But he’s forced to echo his wife. "I
perfect the recipe, then I never make it again. There’s always something new to try."Of course,
perfection can be a fluid concept. While making the peanut butter pie for this column, Russin found himself
"tweaking" even further.Instead of three-quarters of a cup of peanut butter, "I upped it to
one cup, and I like that."The original recipe called for "too much Cool Whip. I dropped it from a
12-ounce container to an 8-ounce. I didn’t want (the filling) mounded," he explained.In all of his
desserts, Russin said he’s been using dark brown sugar, instead of granulated white, and "I’ve been
cutting down on sugar" to start with. "All these commercially produced desserts are so sickeningly
sweet."If you plan to make the peanut butter pie for a holiday family gathering or office party, feel
free to be creative about the finishing touches."I’m sure you could put crushed Reese’s Pieces on top,
or crushed nuts."

PEANUT BUTTER PIE6 tablespoons butter, softened4 ounces cream
cheese, softened¾ cup peanut butter½ cup firmly packed brown sugar (preferably dark brown)1 (8-ounce)
container frozen whipped topping, thawed1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust (below), 1 (9-inch) chocolate-nut
crust (below) or 1 (9-inch) prepackaged “Ready Crust”Beat butter, cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar
until well blendedand smooth. Gently fold in whipped topping until mixture is smooth andcreamy. Turn out
into the prepared crust. Refrigerate until firm, about 4hours. Garnish with cocoa powder or shaved or curled
chocolate. Topwith peanuts or drizzle melted chocolate over pie, if desired.Serves 6 to 8.Graham Cracker
Crust1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 11 whole graham crackers)1/4 cup sugar1/3 cup (2/3 stick)
butter, meltedPlace graham crackers in a resealable plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.Empty into a
medium-sized bowl and add sugar; mix well. Melt butter in asmall saucepan or microwave. Add melted butter to
graham crackermixture and blend until the texture resembles coarse meal.Press onto bottom and up the sides
of a 9-inch pie pan. Chill the crustfor an hour before baking (will help prevent crumbling when serving).For
a hard crust, bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 375 for a glass dish, 350for a silver pan or 300 for a dark pan.
Remove from oven and let coolbefore adding filling.Chocolate-Nut Crust6 squares semisweet baking chocolate,
such as Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate, or 2 (3.5-ounce) Cadbury Dark Chocolate Bars1 tablespoon butter or
margarine1 1/2 cups finely chopped nuts, toastedLine a 9-inch pie plate with foil; set aside. Microwave
chocolate andmargarine in large microwavable bowl on high for 2 minutes or untilbutter is melted. Stir until
chocolate is completely melted. Stir innuts.Press mixture onto bottom and up sides of prepared pie
plate.Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Remove crust from pie plate; peeloff foil. Return crust to pie
plate or place on serving plate.Refrigerate until used.

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