Lunch: Rice Bread

You can use just about any kind of rice in this chewy bread. Letting the dough for this recipe rise will be the best spent hour you’ve had in your kitchen lately. The best news? While it rises, you can be anywhere else you'd like to be: on the porch with

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup basmati rice
1 1/4 cups warm water (100 ° to 110 °)
6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 package quick-rise yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 teaspoons salt
Cooking spray

Instructions

Combine 1 1/2 cups water and rice in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Spoon rice into a large bowl; cool to room temperature. Stir in 1 1/4 cups warm water.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 cups flour and yeast to rice mixture; stir well to combine. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand 1 hour (batter should become very bubbly and almost double in size).
Add 2 cups flour and salt to batter; stir 1 minute with a wooden spoon or until well combined.
Scrape dough onto a heavily floured surface; sprinkle dough with 1 cup flour. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).
Divide dough in half. Working with 1 portion at a time (cover the remaining dough to keep from drying), roll each portion into a 14 x 7-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Roll up each rectangle tightly, starting with a short edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam and ends to seal. Place each roll, seam side down, in an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.
Lightly coat the loaves with cooking spray; cover and let rise in a warm place (85 °), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375 °.
Bake at 375 ° for 45 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped. Cool in pans on wire racks.