"The Big Time" 2/18

OPPORTUNITY: Making a three-course meal at Mandalay Bay's Fleur in Las Vegas
COOKS: Michael Bergin (a sous chef at L'Espalier in Boston whose father's an electrician), Sally Yu (a baker who's part of a San Diego family that owns a Chinese restaurant) & Julio Carro Aguilar (a Korean Embassy chef from San Jose, Costa Rica)
MENTORS: Hubert Keller & Susan Feniger

Opening Challenge: 10 minutes are put on the clock to get as many of the 25 ingredients used to make the dish they just ate w/ Hubert & Susan.

CORRECT INGREDIENTS: Wogyu beef cheeks, onions, carrots, celery sticks, fresh ginger, garlic, lemongrass, pinot hair, tomatoes, brown sugar, thyme, bay leaf, rosemary, parsley, tomato paste, beef steak, spinach, veal sweetbreads, Dijon mustard, mustard seeds, breadcrumbs, olive, cornstarch, squash & red cabbage

WINNER- Michael (14- onions, carrots, celery sticks, fresh ginger, garlic, pinot hair, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, rosemary, parsley, beef steak, spinach & red cabbage)
PENALIZED- Sally (7- onions, fresh ginger, pinot hair, brown sugar, thyme, bay leaf & squash)(Julio: 10- onions, carrots, garlic, pinot hair, tomatoes, bay leaf, tomato paste, beef steak, cornstarch & squash)

Elimination Challenge ("A La Card"): At the Beach Bar & Grill, the three cheftestants each have to play six hands of Blackjack to determine which of the 20 ingredients they will use in the challenge. If s/he busts, that person gets nothing for that hand, but if 21's reached, they can choose from any of the ingredients.

Because of Sally's last-place finish in the week's first challenge, she gets dark chocolate as an ingredient right off the bat.

Ingredients:

Michael (busted at 26 on final hand): Tomato (7), salmon (14), polenta (19), Habenero (20) & broccoli rabe (16)
Sally: Dark chocolate (penalty freebie), salmon (two sevens), Parmesan (9), Habanero, broccoli rabe, basil (5; made 21) & Cipollini onions (11)
Julio (busted at 23 on next-to-last hand): Flank steak (8), Shiitake mushrooms (12), lemon (6), Habenero (20) & Cipollini onions

Not selected: Truffles (1), goat cheese (2), white asparagus (3), rack of lamb (4), sea bass (10), Fingerling potatoes (13), Risotto (15), caviar (17) & chicken (18)

FIRST IN- Michael
OUT- Julio (undercooked steak)

FINAL CHALLENGE: Both of these 45-minute dishes have to include some Budweiser.

Michael: Duck
Sally: Lobster (tofu was the unchosen protein)

DISHES:

Sally: Beer-poached lobster w/ garlic, ginger, brown butter beer reduction & blackberries
Michael: Pot a Feux (includes poached duck & red cabbage puree)

BIG WINNER- Michael

TBT MENU FOR MICHAEL: Crab salad, lamb loin & apple panna cotta

(Final note: Robin Leach, who once hosted a "$ale of the Century" pilot, was a guest at Fleur.)