Zahav Hummus
This hummus recipe is slightly modified from the incredibly popular Zahav cookbook by Michael Solomnov.
Classic Cornbread
Anyone familiar with cornbread seems to have a preferred version, usually derived from the region they’re from or the type they grew up eating. This version seems to be a fair compromise for everyone. You can taste the corn more than the flour, it has a very subtle sweetness, a slight tang, is moist in the center, and when made properly has an outer crust that is slightly caramelized and crisp.
A Charred Salsa Recipe
This salsa can be made two ways. One version is chunkier and only uses six ingredients. The second version is smoother, spicier, uses sevenish ingredients, and takes a few more minutes
Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies Recipe
Our Zapata chef Chase Kelly bakes these cookies just before check-in and places them in guests’ rooms moments before their arrival so they’re greeted by the smell of freshly baked cookies.
Where the Gate is Always Open
The Chico belongs to the people of Colorado, to the thousands of children who visit the ranch in school groups each year, to future generations of humans who might still have the opportunity to harvest meat from that same land, to the birders and the dragonfly-hunters, and to all of us who are willing to step outside of our comfort zone and come see for ourselves where the food we eat comes from.
Here Comes Branding Season
As the days lengthen, drawing winter closer to spring, we begin readying ourselves for calving season, which officially starts for us April 1st and goes into June. In a normal year, eighty percent of the calves come in the first fifty days.
Art by Jill Soukup
“Horses are one of the most perfectly created animals in nature. They seem so proportionally perfect. I’ve always felt that the way the move, the way they’re built, there’s something so aesthetically pleasing about them.”
A Month at Zapata Ranch
The fire flickered, reaching up to a brilliant indigo sky. Billowing charcoal clouds lazily settled against the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. I sat on the porch of a homey log cabin, with a hearty bowl of homemade bison chili gratefully held in my hands. It was a welcomed comfort after traveling 1,500 miles across our beautiful country. Next to me were 3 young women from all corners of the United States, who had just made a similar journey and were here also hired on as wranglers. We observed in delight our hosts cracking bull-whips, shooting bows and arrows, and setting BB gun targets with equal parts skill and joy. Heeler pups played, and stories were exchanged as we wrapped ourselves in the beauty of the night. There was an air of excitement & engagement that first night, an energy that would not dissipate. We had arrived at our home for the next six months, Zapata Ranch.
Colby’s Campfire Grilled Corn
Ranchlands Camp chef Colby Richards has been whipping up some spectacular meals over the open fire grill down at camp. His Mexican dinner has quickly become one of our favorites. Below, he shares with us his simple but delicious take on elote grilled corn.
Fall Colors at Zapata Ranch
Snow capped mountain peaks and woolly bison. Capture fall at Zapata Ranch during a workshop with photographer Stephen Weaver.