by Gina McKnight
Archived from the February 2024 issue of Florida Equine Athlete
No duplication without permission,
A combination of horses, range living, and creative cooking is all it took to pique my interest in Jill Bosich, better known as The Range Rider and Culinary Cowgirl. From California USA, Jill is an expert chef and horsewoman. She is also the author of Tamales Unwrapped! A Comprehensive Guide to Making Tamales from Scratch. A fascinating cowgirl, welcome Jill!
GM: What an amazing story you live! So much to talk about, but first, tell us about Cooper, your horse... is Cooper your first horse?
JB: Thank you so much! It’s a pleasure to be able to
connect with you and your audience! Cooper is my first personal horse and I
feel so absolutely blessed to have him. Although I don’t have another horse
that I’ve ever owned personally to compare him to, I have to say he is
definitely my heart horse. I’ve ridden so many horses over the years and have a
definite favorites for various reasons, but there’s something about having your
own horse and the bond that is forged that is almost hard to put into words.
Cooper is a 15.2 hand quarter horse, he’s a bay and when he is shedding out in
the spring, gets the most beautiful dark brown dapples. Disposition wise, he is
such a hambone! His personality is so animated, he greets me every time he sees
me pull up in my truck to the barn and gives me the biggest whinny! It melts my
heart every time.
GM: Roping, riding, and spending time on the range must be magical. What do you enjoy the most about living the cowgirl lifestyle?
JB: I feel so blessed to be able to have experienced riding
on the open range and working cattle, learning horsemanship, and learning to
appreciate the ranching and farming lifestyle. As a professional chef I have
always had a soft spot in my heart for those who produce and grow our food, so
to be able to work on a cattle ranch for a number of years, it has really been
a full circle experience to understand what it takes to really put food on our
tables. The truth of the matter is, I’m completely a city girl who dove head
first into this lifestyle to fully embrace what it is to raise our food. Part
of that was to learn to rope and believe me I was horrible when I first
started. But to get the technical skill under your belt as part of my
horsemanship has been such a personal challenge and something I feel so
grateful to have learned as a true skill.
GM: I love your title
"Culinary Cowgirl"! How do horses and living the ranch life inspire
your creativity in the kitchen?
JB: This is such a great question and I’ve always
endeavored to be able to blend both sides of my life together which is why I
say I wear two hats and ride 2 ranges! For many years I worked as a chef
instructor in several culinary programs at various colleges and universities
nationwide and on my summer breaks would have the chance to slip into the
cowgirl life and switch my chef hat for a cowboy hat. It wasn’t just to be able
to wear the gear, although I love it so much, it’s to really appreciate the
western way of life and to embrace the customs and culture that is so unique to
it. And being a chef, I just felt it was super important to know where our food
comes from, and more than that, make relationships with those who work to
provide what goes on to our tables. I’m so inspired when I have the chance to
visit farmers markets and indulge in the seasonality and my cooking is
completely driven by what is abundant and available that time of year. As far
as proteins go in the winter time, I will choose cuts of meat which require low
and slow methods of cookery, generating beautiful braises and stews out of
secondary cuts which might be tougher and require a longer cooking time. Those
are the sorts of dishes that warm you from the inside on days that are super
cold and you need to break the chill. Conversely in the summer it’s wonderful
to have menus built around foods that can be grilled, cooked outdoors and so
forth to make the most of those long daylight hours.
GM: As an award-winning working Chef,
how do you combine ranch life with your professional career?
JB: One of the ways I maintain a connection between both my
chef life and the ranching and farming lifestyle is to really double down into
my social media platforms where I am connecting with consumers on a daily
basis. Use those platforms to bring tons of awareness to perhaps individual
farmers or ranchers, or just things within that agricultural life which help to
inform or educate those who might not be so intrinsically connected to the
people responsible before growing their food and fiber. My website is also full
of a great deal of blog material where I feature stories on farmers and
ranchers in addition to recipes using many of their products and blending that
with my professional chef expertise to create dishes which celebrate not only
flavors of a season but the foods coming from various regional locations around
the United States.
GM: You share a lot of delectable
recipes on your website. I am not a good cook (my husband calls me a
bottom-chef). Can you recommend a good recipe to impress my family and friends?
JB: One of the hallmark ideals I tried to embrace when I’m
writing a recipe is to consider the end user, that they might have very minimal
experience yet I’m challenging them to make what could be considered a
complicated dish. I endeavor to write the recipes so they are very
instructional, descriptive and approachable. I would recommend The Runza style
arm roast which features beef from the Robinson Ranch in Nebraska, I had the
chance to work with them and use their beautiful beef to make a crock pot dish which
after cooking for several hours results in the most delicious roast beef that
is fantastic on its own or incredible in the sandwich recipe that I have built
around it. Something like that would be so delicious with a batch of homemade
buttered mashed potatoes.
GM: You've traveled around the world,
embracing many cultures and have cooked in many kitchens. Where in the world is
your favorite place to be?
JB: This is such an interesting question about my
professional background because I have had the chance to cook and compete in
kitchens all over the world. From Europe to Central America I have to say after
traveling so much throughout my career, now in my adulthood I truly am so
fascinated by getting to know our own beautiful 50 states. One of my most
favorite places to be is in either Montana or Wyoming, they are both so
gorgeous and rugged it’s hard to take it all in sometimes!
GM: What does horsemanship mean to you?
JB: What does horsemanship mean to me is such an interesting question because I
honestly feel that it’s a mindset and a practice which is constantly evolving
and perfecting. Much like my culinary craft, there is always something to learn
and always someone to teach you another way of doing something so fascinating.
Horsemanship to me is ultimately taking total responsibility for your animal
and doing everything right by your animal to ensure their comfort, safety and wellness.
Honest and honorable practice. I always keep myself in the mindset of a student
where I’m constantly trying to learn and improve my skills to either ride more
correct, or even the smallest hint or tip to provide a wholesome and safe
environment for my horse so he’s feeling good and wants to be his own personal
best. There’s so much to giving respect to the animal and really honoring them
as a partner and working together to achieve incredible progress as a team.
I’ve asked the horses that I’ve ridden over the years to cover some incredible
ground, ride some tough country, and how they take care of me I truly believe
is because of how I take care of them.
GM: List five things your fans may not
know about you...
JB: This is a fun question and I’ll start with probably the
most obvious but you wouldn’t know unless you knew me in person but for
starters I am 6 foot 1 and pretty tall for a woman! Secondly, totally a girly
girl and love all things makeup, Western fashion, and I try to keep my boot
collection at a manageable level! Next even though I’m a professional chef I
don’t really care for things like oysters, rabbit, frogs legs, quail, and other
small animals like that where other people absolutely love to enjoy! So I will
cook them perfectly but serve them promptly to someone else! Fourth, I’m not a
big dessert person and most people think I’m a pastry chef because I own and
operate a small bakery where I ship sweet treats, things like cakes and cookies
all over the country! And lastly, if I could, when I’m not wearing cowboy
boots, I’d probably live in flip flops.
Connect with Jill on social media
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| Black Bart's Bars |
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| Jill: Consulting work for a family farm |
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| Copper saddled up |
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| Copper |
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| Jill barrel racing on Copper |
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| Jill in the saddle |
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| Judging a competition with a competitor |
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| Waiting at the corral to go work cattle |
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