Panko-Crusted Pork with Aioli

Ingredients:

Main dish:
2 thin-sliced (9.525mm) boneless pork chops
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg

Sauce:
2 tbls mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 small garlic clove, chopped fine
1/4 cup (4 tbls) vegetable oil

Vegetable:
1/2 pound green beans
1/2 a small red onion
1 tblsp drained capers

Misc:
Flour
Water
Salt
Pepper
2 tbls butter
2 tbls oil

The capers got all buddy up to the mayo in this shot. They aren't in the sauce, they go with the veggies. Not shown: Pepper and Oil.

Step 1:

Mix all the sauce ingredients except the vegetable oil together in a bowl. Slowly add the oil while mixing. It helps to have all the ingredients here close to room temperature to prevent the sauce from breaking apart. You should end up with a smooth creamy looking result. Season with a little salt, and put aside. Finished product in the inset:

This makes like 10 times more aioli than we need, but I can't see cutting down the recipe to any smaller quantity.

Step 2:

Once you actually start cooking, everything is going to be done fast so now is a good time to get everything prepared.

Get yourself a bowl and put the egg and a little water in it and whisk it up. Next, get a plate or a piece of parchment and put a cup of flour on it. Place that to the left of the bowl. Get another plate / piece of parchment and put your panko on it. Place this to the right of the bowl.

You should have (from left-to-right) flour, beated egg, panko.

Step 3:

If you can't get panko bread crumbs, dramatically throw everything in the trash and go out to dinner. There's really no reason to make this if you don't have the panko. For those of you who don't know what panko is, it is a flaky sliced Japanese breadcrumb as opposed to the granular standard kind. It makes fluffy crispy goodness on things:

Step 4:

Now get your half red onion (or if you don't have a half handy, get a whole onion and cut it in half. This is known as improvising) and slice it up *thin*. We need the onions to cook fast, so anything thicker than 2 American nickels (or 7 Romanian bani) is right out. If you mess up, you've always got the other half. If you mess that half up too, put the whole thing back together with scotch tape and take it back to Publix for a replacement. They'll take anything back.

Locate and drain your capers. If you see any of their anti-oxidant bioflavinoid rutin pouring out, your capers are defective and should be returned to Publix when you take the onion back.

Step 5:

Start a pot of boiling water for the beans, and heat up a 2 large skillets over "sautee" heat. Throw the beans in the water with some salt once it starts boiling. In each skillet add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil.

Step 6:

Take your thin pork chops and put them in the flour, shake off the excess, put them in the egg scrambowl, then toss in the panko. Take the chops and put them into one of the frying pans. Start your timer.

Put your sliced onion into the other skillet, and start to sautee. We're looking for carmelization.

Step 7:

At 3 minutes flip your pork chops. They should be golden and brown. Listen to these things cooking after you've flipped them. If you don't hear sizzling, the pan is dry and you should add a little more olive oil to help them brown more easily. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

By this point your green beans should be about done. They should still be firm. Drain them and put them in an ice bath to stop the cooking.

When the onions are cooked, add the capers, a little fresh ground pepper, and the cooked green beans to the pan. Toss to mix em all up.

Step 8:

All done! Plate a piece of pork, dollup a tablespoon of aioli into the center of the meat, and cover with a stack of green bean / onion / caper / pepper mix.