Boiled Pork and Pease Pudding

Food In England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 110

Pork roast (shoulder cuts, leg/ham cuts and pork shanks or hocks)
Carrots
Turnips
Parsnips
Rutabaga
Onions
Cabbage
Celery leaves
1 cup dry green peas (whole or split?)
1 sprig of mint
Salt
11 peppercorns
1 - 2 Tbsps sugar
1 cup hard cider
Bacon fat
Ground pepper

1. Poach the meat in a saucepan or Dutch oven in which it fits fairly tightly. Cover it with plenty of cold water. Slowly bring it to a full boil, uncovered.
2. Meanwhile, put the dry peas and mint in a muslin cloth with a pinch of salt. Allow a lot of room for the peas to swell when firmly tying the cloth into a bundle; make sure a string is attached at the neck so that you can attach the other end of the string to the handle of your cooking pot.
3. If the joint is very large, let it poach for a while before adding the vegetables. Dorothy indicates this should take several hours.
4. Once the water is boiling, add all of the veg, and then suspend the bag inside the pot with the pork. Add the peppercorns, sugar and cider. Lower the heat so that the bot is slowly simmering and cover for the rest of the cooking time.
5. The meat is done when a meat thermometre insterted away from the bone registers between 145°F and 150°F. Doneness can also be checked if the juices run clear when the thickest areas of meat are pierced.
6. When cooked, drain the liquid to save it as broth. Let the meat rest for about 10-15 minutes before cutting.
7. Lift out the pease pudding (if well made it should have swollen into a dense green cannon ball). Unravel it from the bag onto a hot dish, and DO NOT CUT, but pull it apart with two forks. Top with a know of bacon fat on each half, a few grinds of pepper, a spoonful of hot broth, and serve along with the meat and veg.
8. Good with a good hearty bread.