I had seen the technique on a German TV program, but when I was cooking it for my mom and her friends i had left the recipe at home, so I just did as I remembered and ended up making some minor changes. I would give credit to the respective chef, but don't remember who it was.
Here is what I ended up doing:
crown roast of lamb in a bed of spinach
amounts for 6 people (can be adjusted - original was for 4)
3 lamm "backs" (tied together in a crown)
9 cloves garlic (in thin slices)
olive oil
about 100 g butter
750 g fresh spinach (washed and dried - even slightly wet spinach will make the oil splash badly! - I learned the hard way)
salt, pepper
method:
Preheat your oven and a tray (about 3 cm deep) to 240°C.
Put olive oil and butter on the hot tray. Add garlic and meat and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.
After 20 minutes turn off the oven. Heap the spinach over and around the meat (it will be a big heap all over the tray) and sprinkle with salt. Close oven door.
After 8 more minutes pull the wilted spinach leaves through the juices on the tray and transfer onto a serving platter or into a bowl.
Put your crown roast onto a platter as well. It will be very pink. If you want it more done, you might want to extend the time at the beginning to more than 20 minutes, but I thought it was perfect. Perfectly juicy too!
I served oven roasted baby potatoes (seasoned with rosemary, salt and pepper) with this, and over a year later the ladies are still talking about this dinner - and this course in particular. It is dead easy to do (your butcher can do the crown for you - just order it as a crown roast) and the crown just looks impressive.
Christmas Delights 
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