Tony Tobin teaches you how to win the Dinner Party Wars.

They say staying in is the new going out. Therefore if you are the type of person that enjoys trying to impress your friends with your culinary skills having the right equipment in the kitchen is essential.

Celebrated Chef Tony Tobin from TVs Come Dine With Me knows all about the competition and is happy to share his top tips with us. So together with Cannon Cookers he has got together a host of essential tips to help your soirees become extra impressive. Tony is very enthusiastic about the Canon range of cookers, being both very well designed and versitile, and therefore his professional choice for both his home and celebrated restaurant in Reigate. The cookers special features include an oven for resting meats and another for warning plates,therefore allowing you more time to spend enjoying your guests company instead a hot kitchen.

Listed below are some of his top tips for to use to your advantage.

Batter with a twist?
Create a light and crispy batter with just plain flour and soda water. Take whatever you fancy from pepper strips to prawns and shallow fry just for a few seconds. The cooker having a special wok feature just for this purpose..

Having a problem with your souffle? – Cheat!
Put the mixture inside a cooked pancake, fold over and place in the oven. Serve as a whole pudding with an orange and brandy syrup – delicious.

When preparing fish, salt your fingers well, allowing you to keep a good grip. Another tip – using a pair of tweezers is a good way of removing any small bones easily. Or how about serving oyster? Learn how to open oysters, they make a simple but very impressive starter, served on crushed ice with plenty of lemon wedges and green Tabasco sauce.

An easy an impressive starter is pancetta served with a poached egg. To get the egg perfect ensure the water is hot and swirling at a fast pace before cracking it in. Do not be tempted to add salt as it will only split the egg. Instead add a little vinegar or lemon which will then help keep the egg solid. Leave for three minutes and then pop into cold water.

Think 3D when it comes to presention. Piling food high artistically in a tower formation always looks impressive.

Tony has prepared a video tutorial with step-by-step instuctions with plenty more ideas. For futher info go to www.cannoncooking.co.uk