Last Night's Dinner -- French Onion Soup

Anthony Bourdain really is the man. Don't believe me? Try his French onion soup. I did. I had made French onion soup before, from a vegetarian soup cookbook that's actually pretty good. The onion soup, however, is not one of its stronger recipes. At first it tasted right, but once I'd gotten through the layer of molten Gruyere, it took on a sickly sweet and sour flavor, as if the vinegar had overwhelmed the rest of the soup. I decided to try again, but this time I went with Anthony Bourdain's recipe from the Les Halles Cookbook (more on this terrific cookbook later). Immediately I realized what I'd been lacking before -- bacon. The greasiness of the bacon complimented the sweetness of the port and vinegar perfectly. Coupled with the salty goodness that is Gruyere cheese melted over baguette croûtons, this was a near perfect bowl of soup (Next time I will use even more Gruyere). All soups should have bacon in them.