Ever had an open bottle of wine that's just a couple days past its prime? It makes pleasant yumminess in pasta sauce or soup. I found a masive sack of onions in the trash after I purchased some stuff at Gristedes today, so I decided to make French onion soup. I sauteed a whole pile of sliced onions in olive oil and butter for 20 min, deglazed the pan with a little vermouth, cooked 5 min more, added the rest of the bottle of wine along with some parmesan rind my friend had saved for such an occasion, simmered 15 min more, added 8 cups water and some bouillon, then salt, pepper, and rosemary, and simmered another 10 min or so.