I think you have a good grasp here - once you have the foundational ingredients (the structure), I find that it’s the flavoring ingredients (the decorations) that can be more easily monkeyed with.
Personally, I omit green peppers in any recipe. I’m aware that they are prominent in flavoring, but my body doesn’t want them, so out they go! Whereas anything from the onion / garlic family is welcome in absolutely anything (yes, anything).
I won’t be eating a chocolate cake from your kitchen, then. 
No. I can see how you thought I was saying that, though. Read it as saying “do you just want a good culinary experience, or also an authentic one?” then.
You what now? Until I read your OP I’d never even heard of the idea of serving stroganof with noodles.
On googling I now learn it’s a US thing.
Yeah, noodles is the usual way here. Beef stroganoff is all over the place in terms of how it’s prepared, served, and what ingredients it has. For some reason, I used to think it had to have chopped pickles in it (seems to be a Scandinavian and/or Finnish thing, according to the article above.) It looks like originally it may just have been beef in a mustard type sauce, no tomatoes, no mushrooms.
Depends on what you call “bread”. If it means what most of the world calls “bread”, then you just get unleavened bread; it may even be something you’re making on purpose. If it’s something like banana bread, which in many countries would be considered a cake, then that’s iffier, but in part it’s iffier due simply to a matter of shape. Purposefully-unleavened breads tend to be thin because that way they cook more uniformly than if they’re thick.
OK, but I would word that the other way around. “Do you want a good culinary experience, or just**** an authentic one.” Because authentic means nothing if it doesn’t taste good. And by good, I mean when I put it in my mouth I enjoy the flavor, not just that some potty mouth from a country with a reputation for bad food tells me it’s good.
Well, it’s all relative, innit? As a baseline, I actually do like exploring what is considered “good” food in respective native cuisines, and I tend to enjoy discovering flavors and textures I’m not used to tasting in cuisine that has been adjusted to local flavor preferences. But I’m not a purist in any sense or insist on “authentic” (whatever that means, exactly. That term is its own can of worms.) But I do have a preference towards restaurants that try to hew close to their native cuisine, since for me, eating out is an experience and exploration.
I disagree. Authenticity can be a culinary goal in-and-of itself.
I’m assuming here the food the OP wants to make is food he wants to eat, so “good” by implication.
Baking and cooking are very different animals. In cooking, or at least what I think of as cooking, you can get away with a lot of wild substitutions and generally things will work out fine, because you’re not so much “constructing” something as “putting stuff together”. I mean, yes, if you’re making traditional gravy you need a starch or it won’t hang together at all, but by and large, if you want to leave something out, leave it out. You don’t like carrots in your stir-fried rice? Fine, toss 'em. You don’t like jalapeno on your skillet shrimp? Great, ditch it. You hate onions in your macaroni and cheese? Me too, leave that crap out.
Baking is different, because there’s construction going on. The little things, like salt and baking soda, do matter. Things that aren’t structural, though, you can generally play with, and even structural stuff can be substituted sometimes. Obvious flavorants, like cinnamon and nutmeg (and, truthfully, most spices), aren’t going to turn your cake into a custard if you leave it out.
Some quick and dirty substitutions that are on a more “I don’t have ingredient X, what do I do now!”: honey can sub for sugar in most recipes, but you have to account for the fact that honey is a liquid and reduce the other liquid in the recipe accordingly. Applesauce can sub for oil in most cake recipes. If you hate buying buttermilk, you can sub for a cup of it with a cup of regular milk plus a tablespoon of lemon juice.
Kasha with beef stroganoff is authentic, and much yummier than noodles.
Yes, there are unleavened breads, but if you’re trying to make a leavened bread except that you leave out the leavening, then you’re going to get a brick. If you’re going to make unleavened bread, then you need to do other things to compensate, like making it thinner.
He was specifically talking about removing a hated ingredient from a dish.
Sorry, but “authenticity” is a pretty poor goal by itself. If something tastes like dog poop, I don’t give a rat’s behind how “authentic” it is, I’m not eating it, and I don’t think you would either.
Now to be clear, in most cases it’s something that others do like, and I certainly wouldn’t deprive others of it. I just think it’s important for chefs to accept the fact that there are a handful of common ingredients that a lot of people have a strong aversion to, and they shouldn’t get all authoritarian (almost, but not quite resisting the urge to say butthurt) if someone doesn’t like mushrooms (which I love) or sour cream (which I can’t stand).
Woah there - there’s a lot a air between “not good” and “dog poop”. I cook and eat some things for the experience - medieval foods, mostly, but yes, authenticity is entirely the reason.