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It depends on what it is. I've thrown out several Passover dishes because adapting them just didn't work. But a few months ago I made a brisket for 10 people and it didn't turn out like it was supposed to. I didn't care for it but I wasn't going to throw it out. It cost a fortune!

This past Christmas, I was attempting to perfect my lyannaise potatoes. It got ugly for a while. I threw out 3 pans before I was satusfied!

I know I've done this, and I hate doing it (hate throwing any food away, except rotten cilantro). I can't remember exactly what it was. Ok, what they were. I think I blocked it from my conscience.

I am an infallible cook!

I'm throwing it out tonight. Sunday it'll be a week old anyway. Thanks.

Absolutely. Usually I can get a good sense of how something will taste with the recipe, but not always. Just recently I made an orzo salad I found on on some webstie. It looked and read awesome. It was not. It was disgusting. The ingredients themself were fine, but the texture was revolting. Directly into the garbage. I also had a very unpleasant experience with my great idea for a red lentil and barley soup, only too much barley, not enough seasonings, gross texture, gross everything. Dumped. I suffer no conscience pangs. I'm not gonna eat it. Neither is anyone else. I know that. I accept it.

Usually I force myself to eat it if it's at all possible; I can't really waste the money I've spend on ingredients. The one thing I *had* to throw away was a Mario Batali recipe for polenta. I remember thinking that the amount of salt it called for seemed quite excessive, but figured Mario knew best. All I can think of was that it *must* have been a typo, because the result was completely and utterly inedible. So, into the garbage went the polenta, along with the beautiful assortment of glowing CSA vegetables I'd foolishly mixed in.

Bummer about your lamb torte--it sounded so good!
Well, I'm attempting to convert a 10 bag of russett potatoes into soft, pillowey, gnocchi. I'm glad I have 10 pounds of potatoes because I have a feeling I'll be tossing out quite a few until I get the hang of this.

I admit I've used the "stick it in the fridge and throw it out later" technique before, but I really try not to waste what I cook. It's just me and my husband, no kids, so I usually just serve it alongside my profuse apologies for the failed meal and he's usually really good about eating it without complaint and even trying to compliment it in some way - now is that a nice guy or what? :)

I try not to toss foods. But sometimes I'm not happy enough with a dish to serve it again the next day (with a few exceptions, most meals end up as enough for two dinners)

My first try is to see if the dish --or parts of it -- is salvageable as something else. So if a hunk of meat or chicken is maybe a little to dry for a re-run the next day, I might make a salad or stew or soup. I might decide that I'm not serving it for dinner, but it would be fine for lunch for me.

I particularly don't like throwing out meat, probably because that's the most expensive part, but most meats fare well as lunch leftovers once you've wrapped them in a tortilla and added some salsa.

Every now and then, though, something just has to go. If we humans don't like it, and it's not good for the resident critters, it's either compost or trash.

Miss Lamb Torte - R. I. P. She's in the garbage now.

I will feel no guilt for trashing things with: a repulsive texture (another vote for onion dip), a repulsive smell (a How to Cook Everything egg salad), or a repulsive look (coagulated mac & cheese courtesy a Paula Deen recipe).

When we first got married, I forced everything down myself and my SO. Now, after years of his encouragement to use the trash can, if it's lousy, it goes.

Life is too short, and a fried egg makes a quick replacement.

Petit Fours. It was very sad. I've now learned not to wake up and start cooking. My brain needs time to warm up!

http://nujoikitchendiary.blogspot.com/2008/03/faux-fours.html

I don't like to toss stuff either. I'll usually stick in the fridge just in case (1) hubby or kids actually liked it enough to eat some of it as leftovers, or (2) I think of a way of salvaging it into something new. Scenario #1, while not common, does happen often enough that it's worth a try. Scenario #2 is the most frequent good outcome, and one I've become quite skilled at making happen successfully. But, it's not always possible, and if either of those hasn't worked out within a couple of days, it gets tossed with no hesitation, and not much regret on my part. If it's bad, it's bad. I try to compensate for the wasted food by making a really cheap, nutritious dish, like vegetarian lentil soup, within a few days. At least it makes me feel a little better, and it helps the weekly food bill.

People who don't make mistakes probably aren't learning anything new.

And, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

I foolishly bought 2 very costly jars of peeled chestnuts to make this soup (with celeriac and apples) from a recipe of I think Dorie Greenspan.

Made the soup, and kept myself in denial through each taste test - maybe it just needs more time simmering, says I.

It was just way too odd to fathom, even after trying to keep an open mind. It ended up on my compost pile.

I try not to throw out food, and have become fairly adept at recycling leftovers into something else (grinding overdone beef for example, to use in shepherd's pie, something I did this weekend).

But I have made a couple of dogs that simply got kicked to the curb - if I find it inedible, the rest of my family definitely will! The one that always sticks in my head was an antipasto pizza - when I opened the jar of antipasto I KNEW it was going to be a mistake (I was fairly new to cooking, and didn't realize the mixture was pickled AND it contained green beans!). The recipe called for me to spread the antipasto over a pizza crust, top it with plenty of bacon and heat through. My ex and I took one bite each and just stared at each other in horror. He gamely took another bite. I place my piece on my plate, picked up the rest of the pizza, deposited it directly in the garbage, followed by the rest of the jar of antipasto. We didn't stop laughing for an hour, which was about how long it took to change and hit our favourite restaurant!

Like everyone else here, I HATE to throw away food... but if the recipe was truly a dog, I'd toss it.

There have been a few situations where things have been salvageable. If I made a stew and it just didn't appeal to me, I'd hand it off to a family member who doesn't cook. A few weeks ago, I was trying to make a lemony aioli for fish (from a Jamie Oliver recipe on SE). I had to throw out the first two baches. I made something, but it was not aioli or mayonnaise or any kind of emulsion. In the end, I scooped some Hellman's into a bowl, added a bunch of lemon juice, some dill, paprika and capers, and spooned that over the fish. Received many compliments.

Them: "This sauce is delicious! What's in it?"

Me: "I don't want to talk about it."

And so it goes.

I've thrown out batches of pie crust dough that don't come together - thankfully, I've since improved my crust-making skills.

right around thanksgiving the NYtimes published some vegetarian side dishes. there was a cornbread/ broccoli rabe/ cheese casserole. i didn't feel like making my own cornbread, so i purchased some at a local grocery store. i should have tasted it first and read the recipe that stated it had to sit for 4-6 hours before baking (it was some sort of strata thing)...anywho, i put it together and soaked it for about an hour...served it to the family and realized that the cornbread was very sweet and mushy, so it was like eating broccoli rabe cake...it was truly nasty...