Homemade Ketchup

June. The boarding facility in Billings has been going well — Karen, the stable manager, is organized and professional, and the horses are well cared-for, which makes my job easier. When horses are neglected, their feet show it, and then you're trying to correct years of bad management in a ninety-minute appointment, which doesn't work. These horses are healthy, their feet are maintained, and the appointments go cleanly.

I now have six regular accounts. Tom Whelan said at the beginning of the year that a farrier with six regular accounts is a working farrier. He said it again this week when I told him about the boarding facility. He said it the second time with more finality, like he was officially conferring something. "You're a working farrier now, Ryan." Six accounts. A working farrier. Thirty-six hours a month of farrier work, give or take, on top of the ranch operation. It's not going to make me rich. It's going to make the ranch solvent, which is what it needs to be.

Patrick asked me to start taking the cattle sale negotiations. He's been handling the fall auction relationship with the Billings sale barn for thirty years — knows all the buyers, knows the ring man, knows when to push the price and when to hold. He walked me through it Monday, phone call by phone call, explaining the logic. I took notes. This is the next layer of the operation he's transferring. He doesn't say he's transferring it. He just transfers it, one conversation at a time.

I made beer can chicken Saturday — whole chicken, seasoned heavy with salt and garlic and smoked paprika, set over a can of non-alcoholic beer on the grill, roasted over indirect heat for ninety minutes. The steam from the can bastes the interior. The result is the juiciest whole chicken I know how to make. I ate it in the yard with the last of the spring light on the river.

That Saturday grill session — chicken rested, yard quiet, last of the light on the river — felt like a moment worth doing right all the way through, and that means the condiments too. I’ve been making this ketchup for a couple of years now, and it’s the kind of thing that fits a night like that: a little effort, a real result, nothing out of a squeeze bottle that’s been in the fridge since February. It’s tangy and deep and it belongs on a plate next to anything that came off a grill.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 24 (about 1.5 cups)

Ingredients

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions

Combine. Add the tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, water, and brown sugar to a small saucepan. Whisk together over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth.
Season. Stir in the onion powder, garlic powder, salt, allspice, cloves, and cayenne if using. Mix until fully incorporated.
Simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 40—45 minutes until the ketchup thickens to your preferred consistency. It will continue to thicken slightly as it cools.
Taste and adjust. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust salt, vinegar, or sugar as needed to balance the flavor to your liking.
Cool and store. Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to a clean jar or airtight container. Refrigerate for up to three weeks.

Nutrition (per serving)

Homemade Ketchup — The Sauce That Belongs on Every Ranch Grill Night