Ginger peach brown betty

I have a confession to make. It's about my basement. Supposedly, I love peaches, and every Labor Day my mom and I laboriously can approximately two bushels of peaches, just so we can enjoy them all year long. My confession: I have several dozen jars down there . . . and they're not all from 2009. We never finished the jars from 2008!

I'm determined to find creative ways to use them all up before peach season '10 rolls around, so I invented this recipe a few weeks ago and it was a hit. Making use of three things I always have too much of — canned peaches, bread, and fresh ginger (I buy large root segments in shrink-wrapped packages at a discount) — this quick and easy recipe is also a great way to get fruit into your family during the colder months when fresh fruit is neither appetizing nor local.

Ginger peach brown betty

2 quarts canned peaches (fresh or frozen would work, too!)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup flour

1/2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 slices sandwich bread, or equal amount of unsliced bread

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drain peaches and rinse with cold water. In a large bowl, combine peaches, sugar, lemon juice, and flour. Add ginger and cinnamon, and transfer to a 2-quart baking dish. In a food processor, pulse bread until fine crumbs appear. Tip: If using a chunk of unsliced bread (and you don't want to use a food processor), simply grate it with a box grater. Pour breadcrumbs on top of fruit mixture, and dot with butter. Cover with foil or glass lid and bake 25-30 minutes, until fruit mixture is quite bubbly. Remove foil or lid and bake 5-10 minutes more, until breadcrumb topping is golden brown.