Swordfish

Dinner doesn't get much easier -- or better -- than swordfish steaks. Cook a couple of swordfish steaks in garlic and fennel for a few minutes on each side, then add a little white wine and whole cherry tomatoes and let the dish simmer away until the steaks are done. Remove the steaks and cook down the liquid with a little slivered fresh basil until it's nicely thickened (yes, the aroma is amazing!). Pour the sauce over the swordfish and you're good to go. The dish takes only 40 minutes from start to finish, and you can find the recipe here . For more quick-fix dinner ideas, check out our video recipe gallery here . Food Editor Russ Parsons and Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter show you how to fix a dozen dishes in an hour or less.

Dinner doesn't get much easier -- or better -- than swordfish steaks. Cook a couple of swordfish steaks in garlic and fennel for a few minutes on each side, then add a little white wine and whole cherry tomatoes and let the dish simmer away until the steaks are done. Remove the steaks and cook down the liquid with a little slivered fresh basil until it's nicely thickened (yes, the aroma is amazing!). Pour the sauce over the swordfish and you're good to go. The dish takes only 40 minutes from start to finish, and you can find the recipe here . For more quick-fix dinner ideas, check out our video recipe gallery here . Food Editor Russ Parsons and Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter show you how to fix a dozen dishes in an hour or less.

A swordfish was the likely source of the big, blue eyeball that washed ashore in Florida last week, state officials said Monday. The eyeball, about the size of a softball, was found on the sand near Pompano Beach, north of Ft. Lauderdale. The man who made the discovery said he was taking a walk when he spied the object amid the seaweed and detritus from the sea. He wrapped the orb in a plastic bag and contacted police, and the eyeball eventually made its way to state scientists. The eyeball was sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, where experts got an eyeful.

A swordfish was the likely source of the big, blue eyeball that washed ashore in Florida last week, state officials said Monday. The eyeball, about the size of a softball, was found on the sand near Pompano Beach, north of Ft. Lauderdale. The man who made the discovery said he was taking a walk when he spied the object amid the seaweed and detritus from the sea. He wrapped the orb in a plastic bag and contacted police, and the eyeball eventually made its way to state scientists. The eyeball was sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, where experts got an eyeful.

"I didn't know about them until I started working in the kitchen myself," says Gerri Gilliland, proprietor of Gilliland's in Santa Monica. "They really turn me off." Michael Roberts, chef-partner at Trumps in West Hollywood, calls them "yucky." According to Wolfgang Puck, "They're big and black and really ugly." The subject is parasites. Big, black, unsightly ones that local chefs have been noticing lately in the flesh of that delicious denizen of the deep, swordfish.

After a three-year shutdown, federal officials Tuesday reopened commercial swordfish operations off Hawaii, providing all U.S.-flagged boats use experimental fishing gear designed to reduce the inadvertent catch of endangered sea turtles. The decision will allow dozens of boats to rejoin foreign vessels as part of the $300-million-a-year industry.

Heard the fish tale about the one that got away? Here's one about a fish that won't go away. A deep-water swordfish has taken up residency in busy King Harbor in Redondo Beach, where it is sharing space with 1,500 pleasure boats and a sportfishing fleet. Hard-boiled fishermen who normally would be chasing such a fish halfway across the Pacific with their harpoons at the ready were working Tuesday to keep it safe from propellers and dockside anglers.

To see "Swordfish" is to recall another piscine reference, Virginia wit John Randolph's celebrated description of a corrupt but gifted political opponent as someone who "shines and stinks like rotten mackerel by moonlight." A more pithy and accurate review this film is not going to get.

The determined captain stands erect, looking straight beyond the pitching plank of his 10-ton fishing boat. From under gray hair, Jerry Cicconi's eyes fix on the vast, heartless sea. His mad purpose is to harpoon big fish. Earlier in the day, he had talked about the feeling of closing in for the kill, of aiming the 12-foot tool and thrusting the deadly dart into the creature's flesh.

The federal government shut down California's swordfish fleet Thursday, ordering the two dozen boats to stop stringing more than a million baited hooks across a large swath of the Pacific Ocean because they are inadvertently snagging sea turtles and driving them toward extinction.

A Chatsworth estate frequently used as a filming location, including as a set for "Mad Men," has come on the market at $12 million. The midcentury home, set on 2 acres, features 16-foot ceilings, walls of glass opening to outdoor living spaces, three lower-level offices and a conference room, four bedrooms and 51/2 bathrooms in 6,661 square feet. A one-bedroom, 11/2 -bathroom guesthouse contains 1,000 square feet of living space. A detached gym sits near the 50-foot-long pool. There is a large motor court and parking for 200 cars.

After a three-year shutdown, federal officials Tuesday reopened commercial swordfish operations off Hawaii, providing all U.S.-flagged boats use experimental fishing gear designed to reduce the inadvertent catch of endangered sea turtles. The decision will allow dozens of boats to rejoin foreign vessels as part of the $300-million-a-year industry.

The federal government shut down California's swordfish fleet Thursday, ordering the two dozen boats to stop stringing more than a million baited hooks across a large swath of the Pacific Ocean because they are inadvertently snagging sea turtles and driving them toward extinction.

The federal government on Wednesday proposed shutting down the West Coast's commercial swordfish fishing fleet, saying that too many sea turtles are being inadvertently snagged on baited hooks in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

It's fall, and in California that means it's time for local swordfish--maybe. Fresh swordfish is available virtually all year from some part of the world or another, but from September through November it's typically a local catch here ("local" being a somewhat flexible term). Around the end of August in most years, seasonal migration patterns bring good numbers of this big, tasty fish close to the West Coast, where they are pursued by a fleet of boats mostly based in Southern California.

For weeks, Skip Robinson has anxiously awaited the release of the movie "Swordfish," eager to catch a glimpse of downtown Ventura amid exploding cars and breaking glass. The Warner Bros. movie, which stars John Travolta and Halle Berry as partners in cyber-crime, was partly filmed in Ventura last fall. The crew spent nearly a month setting up and shooting on two blocks of Main Street, making "Swordfish" the biggest movie production ever filmed in the beach city.

Consider it a candidate for the Endangered Dishes List. Swordfish has long been popular on the menus of high-end restaurants. But now, in an unusual self-imposed moratorium, chefs at about 25 top restaurants along the East Coast and into Texas are about to voluntarily clear it from their grills, pans and plates.

Colman Andrews' "Something Fishy About This Swordfish" (Aug. 10) has done all of us fish eaters a great disservice. Why would he write such an article? I will never be able to eat a piece of swordfish again, and all other fish will be suspect. We're going to have to "scale down" our fish consumption. GLORIA LANFELD Beverly Hills

To see "Swordfish" is to recall another piscine reference, Virginia wit John Randolph's celebrated description of a corrupt but gifted political opponent as someone who "shines and stinks like rotten mackerel by moonlight." A more pithy and accurate review this film is not going to get.