SQL Server - Can I surgically remove a bad cached query plan or am I chasing the wrong idea?
You can!
Run this to find your plan's ID:
select plan_handle, creation_time, last_execution_time, execution_count, qt.text
FROM 
   sys.dm_exec_query_stats qs
   CROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_sql_text (qs.[sql_handle]) AS qt

Then place that ID in the stored procedure called DBCC FREEPROCCACHE
DBCC FREEPROCCACHE (plan_handle_id_goes_here)

You could always just free the whole thing though. It'll add a few seconds to the first time each query is ran, but no more than what a server reset (or an IISRESEt in a web server) would do anyways.
This is how you clear it all:
DBCC FREESYSTEMCACHE ('ALL') WITH MARK_IN_USE_FOR_REMOVAL;

Check here for more info https://serverfault.com/questions/91285/how-do-i-remove-a-specific-bad-plan-from-the-sql-server-query-cache