-
Active Time
1 hr
-
Total Time
15 hr
Ingredients
Serves 8
Special Equipment
Make marinade:
Step 1
Bring water to a boil with garlic and peppercorns. Add hibiscus flowers and gently simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let marinade steep 30 minutes. Pour marinade through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids, then discard solids. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved, and chill until cold.
Marinate lamb:
Step 2
Remove most of fat from lamb and put lamb in double layer of sealable plastic bags with marinade. Marinate lamb, chilled, turning bag over once or twice, 12 to 24 hours.
Roast lamb:
Step 3
Remove lamb from bag, reserving marinade, then transfer to a roasting pan just large enough to hold it. Pat lamb dry and rub with oil, then season generously with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Preheat oven to 450°F. Put lamb in upper third of oven and reduce heat to 350°F. Roast until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of leg (without touching bone) registers 125°F, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Step 5
Transfer lamb to a platter, cover with foil, and let stand 15 to 25 minutes (internal temperature will rise to about 135°F).
Step 6
While lamb is standing, pour reserved marinade into roasting pan. Straddle pan across 2 burners and boil marinade, scraping up brown bits, until reduced to about 1 cup.
Step 7
Add any meat juices that have accumulated on platter and whisk in jelly and salt and pepper to taste. Add butter and swirl or shake pan until incorporated. Pour sauce through a fine sieve into a sauceboat to serve with lamb.
Leave a Review
Reviews (11)
Back to TopWe still remember the first time we fixed this lamb 12 years ago. Loved it and still do. Pair it with a really good wine for a meal you'll remember. As another reviewer suggested, more garlic is a good thing. I have rubbed a garlic and salt paste on the meat before roasting.
sudsmoo
Michigan
3/22/2012
My first Review! I made this for Easter Dinner in 2002. Most of the family said they didn't like lamb. Well after eating this recipe, they all changed their minds! The tea takes the lamby taste right out of the meat and tenderizes it with a flowery sweetness. I'm not going to disagree with everyone that rosemary and garlic are THE lamb flavours, but if ever you need to make a super-tender leg of lamb for people who aren't true lamb lovers, THIS is THE recipe to make, in my opinion. I actually didn't find pure hibiscus tea and used a mixture (also good luck finding organic). Don't think it matters. Truly exotic taste for the effort. Yum Yum Louise in Montreal
louern
Montreal Canada
4/8/2007
Tastes, good, but can be a little soggy because of the marinade. I would make it again though, but this time I would add more salt and pepper and rub it on the meat before cooking
Anonymous
Denver, CO
7/7/2003
This is absoloutely *fantastic*.. I took another reader's advice, and draped it with rosemary... as well as stuffing sliced garlic cloves into the lamb while it roasted. A huge hit; I'm so glad my first attempt at lamb turned out so well!
Jennifer Poole
San Francisco, CA
4/21/2003
To the previous reviewer: The tea leaves are used in place of the hibiscus flowers. Add them to the boiling water in the beginning. The jelly is used at the very end once the marinade has been used to deglaze the roasting pan. You'll find this part in the very last paragraph of the recipe.
Anonymous
Parkton, MD
4/16/2003
I can't rate this because I haven't made it yet. I'm a bit confused...when do you add the jelly and the tea leaves? I don't see it anywhere in the preparation...?
Anonymous
4/9/2003
This is by far my most favorite wat to roast lamb. The only thing I add is rosemary just before I put it into the oven.
Anonymous
Tampa, FL.
5/13/2002
I also used a pork roast... it was "two forks" but the leftovers were GREAT in a BBQ sauce served on toasted onion buns! This marinade is very interesting....
Anonymous
Maywood Park, OR
2/28/2002
This is one of my favorite lamb preperations. The meat is tender and marinade brings out the complex flavors of the meat.
Anonymous
San Francisco, CA
8/1/2001
The sauce was good, but the lamb was less tasty than it might have been with a simple treatment of olive oil, salt and pepper. In fact, on the cut sides, it was even a little mushy in texture.
Anonymous
Walnut Creek, CA
4/27/2001
I made this with a 5lb boneless pork loin rather than the lamb and it worked well. The meat was very tender.
Anonymous
Dallas
9/22/2000
