Material this writer's daughter recalled (5)
I believe the answer is:
denim
'material' is the definition.
(type of fabric)
'writer's daughter recalled' is the wordplay.
'writer's' becomes 'mine' (belonging to the person writing).
'daughter' becomes 'd' (genealogical abbreviation).
'recalled' says the letters should be written backwards (to recall can mean to bring something back).
'mine'+'d'='mined'
'mined' written backwards gives 'DENIM'.
'this' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for denim that I've seen before include "Durable material" , "Hard-wearing cloth" , "Thick cotton cloth" , "Hard-wearing material seen in jeans" , "Hard-wearing blue fabric" .)