Simple Strawberry Jam

This is an extremely easy way to make a flavorful strawberry jam for a nice brunch or breakfast. 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup turbinado sugar

Juice and zest of 1 large lemon

2 pounds of ripe strawberries

 1. Zest and juice one large lemon and add to sugar in a deep pot. Cook over very low heat (I use setting 2 or 3 on a 10 setting dial) until the sugar has dissolved. Stir as needed.

 2. Here's what the sugar will look like after it's dissolved.

3. Remove stems from strawberries (hulling is a good approach). I like to leave about half of them whole and cut the others into quarters. This leaves nice berry chunks after the mixture has cooked down. Carefully place berries in sugar and lemon liquid, and coat them thoroughly. 

4. Cook for about 30 minutes on low heat until it looks like the above picture. One way to check the consistency is to drizzle a small amount of the liquid on a cool plate. Turn the plate on its side to see if it has reached desired thickness. 

5. Pour hot mixture into a jelly jar or serving dish and cool.