Anyone ever make a kitchen sink / Frankenstein batch of stuff?

[Tab]

I've learned not to do this, but for a long time I might take a day and experiment with something (say, pasta sauce, or maybe a soup) and it wouldn't taste just right, so I'd add a little (or a lot) of something else, and retry it, and then it was short on something (say, garlic) so I'd add that, but I'd discover the result was improperly spicy (meaning, you could taste the additive powder/spice itself) or bland, or too heavy on the onions, and I'd add something else in, and this would perpetuate itself because I already had so much time (and ingredients) invested in my grand experiment, until there was no room in the pot, and then I'd cook it down as best as I cook, but it always came out as crap. I'm having trouble thinking of one dish where this worked, with the exception of making nachos (where piling on is always acceptable) about 30 years ago with my roomate, but we were both drunk at the time, so I don't know if that counts

[japple]

1. Sad to say, I have done this, and it almost never comes out right. With

so many flavors, textures, etc. going on, it's hard to taste anything. If you're lucky, you might feed it to a bunch of hungry college students or the high school football team. Serve it over noodles and add hot sauce!

[Galileo126]

2. I once made lamb fried rice...once...

I love lamb, but no matter how much I tried - I couldn't make it work.

No set or combination of ingredients/spices would make it palatable. That was 30 yrs ago, and I still haven't forgotten that Frankenstein!

Oy!

[Tab]

6. "Lamb fried rice"?

What the hell is that?

[Phentex]

3. All the time!

which is why I often struggle with giving out recipes when someone asks.

[farleftlib]

4. I have to laugh

Of course I'm laughing with you. I mean who hasn't done this? Especially if you're a "doctorer" like me. I love to fiddle with recipes and make additions/substitutions wherever I can. I think the trick is to have an idea when you start out of how you want the final dish to come out. But there are times when you panic and get into the tailspin and end up with the Frankenstein meal.

Nowadays it's a lot easier with prepackaged meals that come with veggies, carbs and sauces and all you have to add is whatever protein you prefer, but even then I tinker.

Of course CUI (cooking under the influence) is always a dangerous thing to do.

[Galileo126]

5. CUI...

Been there, done that, will probably do again... (I just do the knife work now before the 2nd drink.)

"Prep first, then drink, then cook."

[Tab]

7. Not drinking before the knife work is key

Anything after that just involves keeping track of time - if you're CUI it's trickier, but that's what timers and instant thermometers are for.

[hermetic]

8. Pretty much every day

Granted, I've been cooking for a LONG time and live alone so I pretty much know what's gonna work and if it doesn't, well... I eat it anyway. I've choked down a few things. Still alive, though, so there's that. Plus I always have ice cream in the freezer make my taste buds happy again.