Clams, pasta at Carrabbas on the menu for 'Emerald Coast Chefs'

In this week's "Emerald Coast Chefs," Beach TV viewers will get a glimpse of the cooking at a chain where restaurant people go for dinner.

Dan Magner of Carabba's Italian Grill in Panama City Beach is the guest for the segment to be broadcast at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays through Dec. 23. He's been at Carrabba's for three years after six years at Roadhouse Grill, and he's a graduate of the culinary school at Gulf Coast Community College.

In biographical information Magner submitted, he wrote, "It's a great feeling when the big-name restaurateurs in this town come to my restaurant because it's their favorite place to eat, drink, relax and be with friends."

The dishes that Magner prepares with host Tim Creehan are staples on the Carrabba's menu: Cozze in Blanco Mussels and Pasta Weesie, named after founder Johnny Carrabba's little sister, Mary Louise.

Both dishes call for lemon butter sauce, which Magner prepares in enough quantity for two entrees, plus extra. He sauts fresh onions in garlic in clarified butter, then adds white wine, lemon juice, salt and white pepper.

You cook the sauce, he says, to an oatmeal-like consistency at a temperature above 145 degrees to keep the butter separated. Then you add sufficient butter to melt for the amount of sauce you want.

For Cozze in Blanco Mussels, Magner cooks fresh mussels from Prince Edward Island in Canada in their shells in olive oil over medium-high heat, covered for 2 minutes. Then he adds garlic and onions and cooks them for 30 seconds to 2 minutes longer.

Don't worry, he says, about insufficient cooking for the clams: "By the time you're through thinking about it, they' already cooked." Once the shells open, they're done.

To finish the mussels, Magner adds fresh garlic and juice from a lemon, plus a dash of pernod, a liqueur with a slight licorice flavor, and a couple of ladles of lemon butter. After a quick toss to mix it all together, they're ready to serve.

The Pasta Weezie calls for shrimp with tails removed, seasoned with a pinch of kosher salt and white pepper. Magner sauts the shrimp in clarified butter until they're almost done you can tell because they'll turn translucent. Add mushrooms and garlic and turn the pan off to finish cooking, then add lemon butter.

Serve with a garnish of fresh chives over fettuccine with Alfredo sauce and grated Romano cheese, heated so the cheese melts.

Such family favorites make for "from-the-heart cooking," Magner says "old-school recipes that have been brought down from generations."

Carrabba's has locations at 13820 Back Beach Road in Panama City Beach (call 850-230-4522) and 10562 Emerald Coast Parkway at Sandestin (call 850-837-1140).