Leave it to the lovely Snowball to ask the question guaranteed to bring a smile to every bakerina’s face (oh, get out of the gutter already, you perverts). Last night I posted pictures of our new loaf of rice bread, source of the world’s best toast. “Where are the instructions?” quoth our Snowball. Why, here they are.
(The kind and intrepid Pauly D has asked if there will be recipes for raisin-nut bread and jalapeno and cheese bread. I could be persuaded, yes. Let me do a little digging.)
As I mentioned last night, this recipe is a variant form of that found in Elizabeth David’s English Bread and Yeast Cookery. I say it’s a variant form because I play with this formula a lot. I have made smaller loaves, larger loaves, loaves with a greater proportion of rice to flour, more salt, less salt. I am currently working on a long-rise version, one in which the total quantity of yeast is reduced and the rising times are longer. In general, long-rising bread has a better flavor and texture than bread leavened with hyperactive amounts of yeast. (I will spare you the exhaustive bloviating about this topic, one of my favorite topics about which to bloviate exhaustively, but trust me, I can go on and on with little provocation.) If it works out, I will be sure to share, so if this is all you want to know about rice bread, consider this fair warning. 
In the meantime, here is the boilerplate recipe I use. The proportions, except where noted, are Mrs. David’s, but the words are mine.
One brief note on the tin: One of the most maddening things about recipes for panned breads is when they don’t specify a tin size. Most of my bread tins are either 8 1/2"x 4”, too small for this recipe, or 10 1/2"x 5 1/2”, too large. 9"x 5” is about right, but these pans are hard to find. Last year I bought a Kaiser La Forme loaf tin measuring approximately 9 3/8"x 4 1/2”. I’d bought it because I needed an 8-cup loaf pan to make a Trianon, the signature chocolate cake of the late Patisserie Colette on East 68th Street, but I have since discovered that it’s the perfect size for a loaf of rice bread.
You will need:
3 oz. (1/2 cup) white rice, rinsed (I use basmati, but Mrs. David says that other varieties of rice, such as jasmine, Arborio or Patna will also work)
375 ml (1 1/2 cups) + 250 ml (1 cup) water
18 oz. (approximately 3 1/2 dip-and-sweep cups) unbleached all-purpose or bread flour (sold in the UK as strong flour)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast or 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast (plus additional water to dissolve if you’re using active dry)
2 teaspoons - 1 tablespoon kosher or fine sea salt, to taste (yes, this means you have to taste a little raw dough. Don’t be squeamish. It won’t hurt you, and you can always spit it out if it really spooks you.)
Cook the rice in the 375 ml of water until all of the water is absorbed and the rice is fluffy. Measure the flour into your work bowl. Add the rice to the flour while it is still hot and incorporate it thoroughly. If you are using instant yeast, mix it directly into the rice and flour. (If you are using active dry yeast, proof it in a little water and add it to the flour when you add the rest of the liquid.) Dissolve the salt into the 250 ml water and mix it into the flour and rice. Add the a.d. yeast, if using. Mix everything together well. This is a sticky dough, one that doesn’t require a lot of kneading. If you have a stand mixer, you can pretty much mix it using the paddle attachment. If you are mixing by hand, don’t be nervous; just keep your hands well-buttered and be patient. Either way, once you are done mixing, turn the dough into a well-buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to ferment for 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
Butter your bread tin. Flour your work surface well and turn out the dough. Knead it a few times, just to make it a bit less sticky and more coherent. Form dough into a log shape, place it in the tin, re-cover with plastic wrap and let proof until the dough is about 1 inch over the top of the tin (check it after 1/2 hour, but it may need longer, depending on the warmth of your kitchen). Set a rack in the middle of your oven. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
When the dough is ready, brush the top of the loaf with melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes at 450, then turn the oven down to 400 and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Take the loaf out of the oven, turn in out of the tin and return it to the oven for 20 minutes, to bake the loaf through and to color the crust. If the crust gets too dark too fast, tent it with foil. Be sure to let the loaf cool all the way down before cutting into it! This is a very moist loaf, and if you cut into it while it is still warm, the crumb will be gummy. I usually let it sit overnight before cutting into it. Last night I did not, which is why the bottom crust looks lopsided in the photo.
Cut. Toast. (Because of the butter, the crust will take on color faster than the crumb, but as long as you are watchful, it will not actually burn, plus you will get a nice contrast of caramelized flavors in your toast.) Butter. Salt. Eat. You’re welcome.