a bare simmer

[Barbara Need]

A recipe for a dish I made this evening asked me to "cook [the
chicken] at a bare simmer". Well, I knew what was meant* but it
seemed odd to me. On the other hand, Google gives me 1800 hits for
the phrase!

Is there anyone familiar with this use?

* I suspect it is from something like "barely a simmer" or "barely
simmering". The adjectival use of _bare_ meaning 'mere' is not in the
OED.

Barbara Need
UChicago--Linguistics