Mother recalled swallowing energy drink (4)
I believe the answer is:
mead
'drink' is the definition.
(mead is a kind of drink)
'mother recalled swallowing energy' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'dam' (female parent of an animal).
'recalled' says the letters should be written backwards.
'swallowing' is an insertion indicator.
'energy' becomes 'e' (physics symbol as in E=mca).
'dam' backwards is 'mad'.
'mad' placed around 'e' is 'MEAD'.
(Other definitions for mead that I've seen before include "Old honey-based drink for dame" , "Honey-based alcoholic drink" , "Alcoholic drink made with honey" , "Honey wine" , "US anthropologist, Margaret d. 1978" .)