I've seen a few Iron Chef shows at friends houses, in the dining hall/DFAC or wherever, and they are interesting. They use some unusual primary ingredients and score a little different from "Mystery Basket".
I think there was a show on for a while where a chef knocked on someone's door and made a meal with whatever was in the house. I saw that one once or twice. That's more what I'm talking about.
/johnny
If you’ve really never seen Top Chef, I envy you: you get to see it all, fresh, not knowing.
Start with Season 1, arguably the best season of them all.
Find a way to see this show. If you have a semi-modern or modern computer, it can play DVDs. Get the first season of Top Chef.
Your mystery basket idea sounds more like how my grandmother used to cook when no one had any money and everyone ate from the garden or traded food as money.
That's how I learned to open the fridge and cook something from what was there. Most of the time it works. The other night I made chicken "cacitore". The only problem is now I can't remember what I did!