These homemade French Fries, or papa frites, are baked in the oven until they’re crispy crunchy and (what we chanted in culinary school) G-B-D! Golden Brown Delicious! This platter of spuds, sausage and peppers was inspired by my husbands first European adventure, but I’ll get to that further down the post. 
Papa Frites: Meal in One
About 15 minutes before they’re done, transform this dish into a One Meal Platter by loading it up with chunky sausage bites, strips of colorful bell peppers and a handful of fresh chopped herbs and garlic.
How to Make Really Crispy HomeFries
- Preheat the oven to 400º
- Cut the 4 large russet potatoes into long wedges. 6 per potato. Cut 3 bell peppers and 1 large andouille sausage into 2 inch chunks. Put the peppers and sausage on a cookie sheet, drizzle them with olive oil and set aside.
Add the baking soda to a pot of boiling water. Carefully put the potato wedges into the boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and put them into the large bowl.
This is the trick right here!
- Sprinkle the potatoes with salt and gently rough them up a bit by tossing them around the bowl until you start to see them slurry up.
- Oil another cookie sheet with a generous amount of olive oil. Lay the potato wedges out on the oiled cookie sheet.
- Put the potatoes on the top rack and the peppers/sausage tray on a lower rack. Flip each potato wedge after 10-15 minutes. They should start turning golden brown.
- Sprinkle 1 tablespoons chopped garlic and 1/4 cup chopped herbs over the potatoes and the other 1 tablespoon chopped garlic and 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs over the peppers and sausage. Bake for 10-12 minutes more or until they turn golden brown and crispy.
- Take both trays out of the the oven and slide peppers and sausage on top of potatoes. Serve with garlic aioli.
Jerry’s European Adventure with the 22 Pounders
The summer Jerry and I met he went on a 10 day whirlwind excursion with a group of 6 friends to England, France, and Germany. Our friend (Kent) who organized the trip had distant relatives in Germany.
Note the hat… we’ll get to that
The inFamous 22 Pounders
Since this was going to be a whirlwind of a trip, Kent thought it best if everyone brought only a carry on. Great. Totally cool. They packed their bags to the hilt only to find out at the check in counter that they were all over the 22 pound weight limit.
Who knew???
Without hesitating, they trooped to the restroom, took out clothes and put them on over what they were wearing. Problem solved.
Of course… after they went through security, the clothes came off and went back into their bags. 😉
While they were waiting for their flight, Kent graciously gave each traveler a black beret a la Griswald. Only to have a stranger walk past and ask if they were a traveling rock band. 
Without missing a beat, Jerry said, “Why, yes! We’re the 22 pounders!” She even asked for an autograph which he happily supplied.
The 22 Pounders posing with their #1 groupie! 🤣
What the Schutz is a Schützenfest???
Before jumping over the pond, Kent contacted his distant relatives and they graciously opened their home to them while they were in Germany. They also opened their hearts, broke out the beer, got out the guns, and stuck a giant zucchini on a pole.
Everything you ever wanted at a family reunion.
Apparently, these are all the ingredients you need for a frolicking good time at your family Schützenfest (pronounced very much like what it is: Shoots N’ Fest). And just what the heck is a Schützenfest, you ask?
Well, that was my question too. Luckily, Jerry had his Blackberry ready at his hip, shot a 30 second video, and sent it to me. Otherwise I would never have believed him.
He sent me a video of everyone in a circle around a 20 foot pole with a large zucchini stuck to the top of it and they were shooting at the squash. With a gun. The object of the “game” was simple.
- Don’t shoot anybody, shoot only the zucchini
- Whoever fires the final shot to bring the “zucchini bird” down wins
- The winner is crowned the Schützenfest king or queen
Jerry getting ready to shoot the zucchini “bird”
Wow. To think of the things we did (and survived doing) for entertainment before the Internet. Mind boggling.
Schutzenfest zucchini “bird” on the pole
So about 5 years ago, the family from Germany repaid the visit and came to see their long lost (now found) relatives over here in the Midwest. Thankfully, our friends did NOT host a Schützenfest.
Instead they swung by our place here on the lake for a boat ride. Then I made a huge pile of Papa Frites with sausages, roasted peppers, aioli, and a huge plate of Wisconsin cheese. It went over really well.
Oh yes, and beer… lots of beer. It was really hot that summer.
Thanks Kent for an awesome adventure!
How to get extra crispy fries
Serve these chunky crispy home fries with some sausage, roasted red bell peppers, and a side of homemade mayo (aioli) and you’ve got yourself a real treat. It’s causal and fun!
Just pile it all up on a big plate in the center of the table. Let everybody help themselves with tongs and if they want to eat with their fingers… go for it!
Want the real trick to crispy Papa Frites? I learned this from a friend of ours, Ian. He’s an English chef down in Mexico who gives impromptu cooking classes in his kitchen from time to time. He’s a great guy and an excellent chef.
This is Ian working his magic. He has the best stories and amazing recipes! Thank you, Ian!
He puts baking soda in the water he boils his potatoes in. Genius! The baking soda breaks down the exterior of the potato. When you pull them out of the water and rough them up a little, you get a bit of a potato slurry on the outside of the potato wedge.
This makes them super crispy and gives them a beautiful golden brown color too.
Papa Frites Video
Here’s a little how to video on making these tasty little spuds. Make them for your next get together or when you feel like having your own Schützenfest!
Papa Frites (Homemade French Fries)
Papa Frites - A simple trick makes the best crispy homemade fries ever! | www.lakesidetable.com
Ingredients
- 4 large russet potatoes
- 2 tablespoons baking soda
- olive oil
- 3 bell peppers red, yellow, or orange*
- 1 pound rope sausage
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup various fresh herbs parsley, thyme, oregano (chopped)
- salt and pepper
Equipment
- large soup pot filled with boiling water
- spider or slotted spoon
- measuring cups and spoons
- knife and cutting board
- 2 cookie sheets
- tongs
- large bowl
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400º
- Cut the potatoes into long wedges. 6 per potato. Cut the peppers and sausage into 2 inch chunks. Put the peppers and sausage on a cookie sheet, drizzle them with olive oil and set aside.
- Add the baking soda to the boiling water. Carefully put the potato wedges into the boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Remove them from the water with the spider or the slotted spoon and put them into the large bowl.
- Sprinkle the potatoes with salt and gently rough them up a bit by tossing them around the bowl until you start to see them slurry up.
- Oil the other cookie sheet with a generous amount of olive oil. Lay the potato wedges out on the oiled cookie sheet.
- Put the potatoes on the top rack and the peppers/sausage tray on a lower rack. Flip each potato wedge after 10 minutes and sprinkle 1/2 of the garlic and herbs over the potatoes and the other 1/2 over the peppers and sausage. Bake for 10 minutes more or until they turn golden brown and crispy.
- Serve with aioli.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
*I like the red, yellow or orange bell peppers, not green. I find green peppers give people gas and they can taste bitter.
Yum! Will try these as soon as I can! I love the story about the shooting !! How fun! Sure reminds me of Texas!
I hope you do and let me know how you like them!
These sure sound good. I love GB & D.
Me too! GBD rules! lol
Nothing better than homemade french fries!
Next time I make my homemade fries I will use this method especially adding the baking soda to the water, who knew?! Thanks for the great tip.
I make homemade fries all the time and never knew this about adding baking soda. Thanks for the great ttip.
Oops sorry for adding 2 comments. My cat walked across the keyboard and I thought she erased my first comment
hahahahaha! Sounds like our cats are A LOT alike!
I’ve always loved French fries and these sounds so yummy
Meat and potato lovers dream!! I love the idea of salty crispy real baked “steak fries/wedges” with the crispy skin still on full of vitamins (my mother always told me the majority of the vitamins are in the skin!) and I love olive oil and sausage; I’m afraid I am
accustomed to using much less oil and a vegan version of the sausage so there is likely less meat fat to crisp it up. I would cook this for someone else!