We started some small raised beds in our backyard where I have a couple of plants growing and doing well...  Among these are some basil plants. 

They were getting a bit 'leggy' so I cut them back a bit to encourage a bit fuller growth and to prevent early flowering, and was trying to figure out what to do with the basil I had.

I looked online to find out how to make a basil oil, but most of the things I found were for more of a basil puree', with the basil blended with the oil.  This would last a couple of days at best.

I decided to try something different.  I wasn't looking for a garnish, but more of an ingredient.  I ended up making a basil infused oil, that so far seems to be pretty good.

To do this I used a cold process with the oil over a 2 week period.  I decided to use a cold process and not hot as basil, in my opinion, seems to be very aromatic, and I felt that a hot processing of the oil might diminish some of the volatility of this substance.

I put the fresh, washed basil into a quart glass jar after cutting it into smaller pieces with my ulu, and covered it with extra virgin olive oil.  After covering it tightly with the lid, I shook the jar.  I continued to shake it several times a day for the next 2 weeks, allowing it to sit in a warm, semi-sunny place.

After 2 weeks I strained out the basil leaves and was left with an oil that I returned to a bottle to use as needed that smells deliciously of basil.

For decorative purposes you could probably add some more basil leaves into the jar.  I didn't do this, but it shouldn't be a big deal either way.  My thinking is that if the oil is strained and free of the herb it will increase the length of time that it will last as I haven't added any preservatives to it.  The herbs being left in it have the potential to make it go bad sooner...  By going bad I'm thinking rancid or cloudy.

The first recipe I used it in was to saute' some onions for a tomato basil soup....  If nothing else, the smell was amazing, and the taste was subtle, but nice...